ingredients
Nutritional Yeast: sounds weird, It’s actually delicious
- By Carolina Schneider, MS RD
- Updated: January 2025
This isn’t your grandma’s yeast. Here’s everything you need to know about this cheesy, nutty plant-based ingredient.
What the heck is nutritional yeast, anyway?
Often called “nooch,” nutritional yeast is a dried, inactive form of the yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. You can find both non-fortified and fortified nutritional yeast. The fortified version provides a healthy dose of B vitamins including B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12. Vitamin B12 is a go-to ingredient for plant-based eaters since it is typically only found in animal foods (plant lovers rejoice!).
Nutritional yeast must be…nutritious?
Nutritional yeast packs a ton of benefits. Not only is it loaded with B vitamins—but 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast offers 5 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and a pinch of iron and potassium too. With just 3 grams of carbohydrates and zero sugar, it’s vegan, keto, and gluten-free.
Nutty, cheezy, umami feels
Let’s move on to the good part: the taste. That cheezy goodness in nutritional yeast comes from glutamate, an amino acid –– while the drying process (toasting the yeast) gives it that pleasant hint of nuttiness. So what does this mean? Nutritional yeast flakes make a killer plant-based substitute for cheese. You can use it to add a blast of flavor to popcorn, create a cheese-sauce alternative, or sprinkle it on veggies and grains to take things to the next level.
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