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If you’ve ever looked into popular vegan cheese alternatives, you’ll most likely have heard of nutritional yeast. Flaky in texture and a dull yellow in colour, nutritional yeast looks a little bit like tiny parmesan shavings - and it supposedly tastes quite similar.
There’s no reason why you should only ever give nutritional yeast a try if you’re considering giving up cheese. Actually, although it has a slight cheesy whiff to it, nutritional yeast really doesn’t taste that similar to cheese. So rather than considering it as a cheese replacement, it’s worth adding it to your diet as a standalone ingredient. Because nutritional yeast does so much more than vaguely mimic the flavour of cheese: it’s also incredibly good for you.
So, what exactly is nutritional yeast? The name might sound a bit weirdly scientific, but nutritional yeast is a simple ingredient that’s used to give food staples like pasta, salads, oven bakes and popcorn a cheesy tang. It’s so popular with vegans as it’s fortified with vitamin B12, and has a nutty taste that enhances the overall savouriness of a dish.
You can usually buy nutritional yeast in resealable bags, and it’s fine for storing at room temperature in a cupboard or pantry. When stored correctly, in a sealed container in a dark place, it can last for more than a year. Click here to find resealable bags online.
Nutritional yeast is made in a fairly simple step-by-step process. First, a pure parent yeast culture of a plant is grown in a sterile environment. Eventually, the yeast is transferred to a container where it will be cultivated.
During the cultivation process, the yeast’s temperate and pH are controlled carefully in order to create optimal growing conditions. The yeast is given a combination of nutrients and air. Next, the fermented yeast liquid goes through a process that concentrates the yeast cells, creating a white yeast cream.
Finally, the cream is pasteurized, making the yeast inactive. This is the point when fortification usually occurs, such as the addition of vitamin B12, before the yeast is dried and sized into flakes, powder or granules.
Nutritional yeast isn’t the same as standard or brewer’s yeast, which is created as a by-product in beer making and used in making bread. Brewer’s yeast has a lower nutritional value, and is activated for leavening bread and other bakery products. Nutritional yeast is usually deactivated during processing, meaning it won’t have the same effect in bread baking.
With the word “nutritional” in its name, it would be a disappointment if nutritional yeast was actually bad for your health. Luckily, it’s packed full of B vitamins, including folic acid, plus protein, iron, and potassium, all without excess sodium or saturated fat or sugar, which makes it an incredible source of nourishment.
So How do you use nutritional yeast
There’s no preparation required for cooking with nutritional yeast. It comes as it is, usually in a resealable bag or container. Exactly how you choose to use it in your savoury dishes is up to you.
As we’ve mentioned already, one of the most popular uses of nutritional yeast is as a vegan cheese substitute. You can either sprinkle a generous helping of nutritional yeast in place of cheese on your pizzas, pastas and salads, or you can get more inventive and use it to create a vegan cheese sauce or an actual cheese-like block of vegan cheese.
A popular but complicated vegan recipe for cheddar cheese involves combining raw cashews with nutritional yeast, coconut oil, and other ingredients like lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato paste and seasonings. If you manage to follow the recipe correctly, you’ll be able to benefit from a very realistic non-dairy wedge of cheddar cheese to use whenever the cheese cravings come on particularly strongly.
The simpler uses of nutritional yeast include stirring it into soups and using it as a natural thickener for a range of sauces. You can also sprinkle it onto popcorn or homemade vegetable crisps to add flavour. Nutritional yeast can be eaten warm or cold, and it doesn’t have a “raw” or “cooked” state, so cooking it won’t alter its flavour or texture.
Lets take a look at the Benefits of nutritional yeast
1. Improves hair, skin and nail health
Nutritional yeast contains a number of B vitamins, including fortified B12, all of which can benefit healthy hair, skin and nails. Biotin in particular has been shown in studies to support healthy hair, skin and nails, by creating the amino acids that produce a form of keratin, a protein that actually makes up our hair and nails.
An adequate supply of B vitamins also helps to slow signs of skin ageing, such as redness and skin spots. Niacin, also found in nutritional yeast, is often used to treat chronic acne and improve overall skin health. Recent research suggests it may even be beneficial at preventing some forms of skin cancer.