Cook Vegan — September 2017

L

et’s be honest. Nutritional yeast

doesn’t sound like a mouth-watering

moreish ingredient does it? Instead,

it sounds like the yeast belongs in stodgy

foods as a thickening or raising agent. The

truth is once you’ve discovered its health

benefits and unexpected delicious and

sometimes cheesy taste, you’ll understand

why this fish-food looking ingredient is

making itself into so many vegan recipes.

It is made from a single-celled organism,

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, which is grown

on molasses and then harvested, washed,

and dried with heat to kill or deactivate the

yeast so it doesn’t act as a raising agent like

traditional yeast. (FYI: Don’t even bother

adding to bread, you’ll only make a mushy

mess). Instead, nutritional yeast is used

to enhance the flavours within a dish.

Known for its cheesy, nutty, savoury, and

‘umami’ taste, a lot of recipes use this to

create vegan cheese or to season food like

popcorn, soups, salads, dips and tofu. The

yeast’s uses are being proven endless as

vegan food bloggers like Vegan Richa use

it to make sour cream, mac ‘n’ cheese and

nachos.

Aside from providing us an intense

flavouring, you’d be surprised how many

nutritional benefits the flaky seasoning

offers too. From protein, fibre, folic acid,

amino acids, phosphorus and chromium;

adding nutritional yeast will not only add

to your recipe forte but your health too. It’s

also noted, vitamin B12 is often added to

the yeast too. Although, if you are looking

to cook with it for this particular advantage

be sure to check the ingredient list of

the one you are buying as not all brands

include the added vitamin.

Are you in need of inspiration of how to

incorporate the ingredient into your vegan

recipes? From dips to soups and pizza:

we’ve got you covered with the following

recipes demonstrating nooching-up a dish.

Everything you need to know about nutritional yeast...