What is Nutritional Yeast & How Do I Use It?
Recently trending in healthy cooking is an ingredient called nutritional yeast.
What exactly is nutritional yeast, and how is it used in cooking?
“Yeast” probably draws to mind associations with bread, as live yeast is used in breadmaking for leavening. While nutritional yeast comes from the same species as the yeast used in bread, nutritional yeast is generally not used in breadmaking. This is because nutritional yeast is not alive like bread yeast—rather the yeast cells are killed during production so that they can be used in cooking.
Nutritional yeast first rose to popularity as an ingredient in vegan cooking. It has a flavor similar to cheese, so can be used to add cheesy flavor to dairy-free recipes. Now the use of nutritional yeast has expanded beyond just vegan cooking to any plant-based cooking. It’s available in many forms, but it is most commonly bought as a powder and used like a spice; sprinkling nutritional yeast on a salad or a pasta dish to add a cheesy flavor, or adding it to sauces to give recipes a more savory feel are some common uses of nutritional yeast. See below for some recipes where you can use nutritional yeast!
When you think about it, it sounds a little strange to be using a dead yeast product to flavor your food. For vegans and vegetarians and other individuals who are dairy free, using nutritional yeast in place of dairy makes sense. But what are the other benefits to using nutritional yeast?
For one thing, nutritional yeast is high in B vitamins. Most nutritional yeast products on the market are fortified with vitamins and minerals, but there are also vitamins present leftover from what the yeast made when they were alive. Depending on the brand, the amount the yeast is fortified may differ, so it’s important to read labels. In any case, nutritional yeast is a great addition to the diet of anyone who may be deficient in B vitamins, and is a good source of vitamin B12. B12 is a nutrient vegans and vegetarians definitely need to keep an eye on since it’s most concentrated and bioavailable sources are meat products.
Nutritional yeast is also high in protein. Depending on the product, nutritional yeast can have as much as 3 grams of protein per 1 tablespoon. In Bob’s Red Mill nutritional yeast, one serving (¼ cup) packs about 8 grams. What’s great about nutritional yeast is that it’s a complete protein, meaning that it contains the 9 essential amino acids humans can’t make and have to get through their diet. Normally we get our complete proteins from animal products, but for those who don’t eat animal foods nutritional yeast may be a source of complete protein worth looking at.
There’s more research that needs to be done regarding the benefits of nutritional yeast, but one significant health benefit is that it contains antioxidants. Antioxidants help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. Both oxidative stress and inflammation reduce immune capacity and make us more at risk for developing chronic diseases. When we have a diet rich in antioxidants we decrease this risk and benefit our overall health in so many ways.
If you’re thinking about trying out nutritional yeast, here are some recipes to get you started:
Vegan High Fiber Mac n Cheese
Ingredients:
1 box lentil or chickpea pasta (Tolerant Foods brand is great!)
1 ½ cups raw cashews (avoid roasted and/or roasted salted)
1 cup water
Juice from 1 lemon
½ cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Soak cashews in boiling water for about 5 minutes. You can boil water and pour over cashews in a glass measuring cup if you have, or place cashews in an empty pot and top with boiling water.
Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package instructions.
Blend cashews, water, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, lemon juice, and some salt in a food processor until creamy.
Top pasta with sauce when done and stir to coat!
Easy Toaster Kale Chips
Ingredients:
Few handfuls of chopped kale
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Pinch of sea salt
Massage desired amount of kale with olive oil, then sprinkle with 1 tbsp nutritional yeast and salt. (Add more yeast as needed for a more savory flavor.)
Place kale on a foil-lined toaster rack and toast to desired crispness (2-3 minutes on high should do the trick, but be sure to watch the kale as it should be crispy but not burnt). Alternatively, you can bake the kale chips at 350 for up to 10 minutes.
“Cheesy” Popcorn
Ingredients:
1 bag plain (butter & oil free) popcorn
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Make popcorn according to bag instructions. Once the popcorn has cooled, drizzle with olive oil and mix well with nutritional yeast.
Have you ever tried nutritional yeast? Will you try nutritional yeast?
By Jessica Kaplan