Can we talk about nutritional yeast?

[NewLeaf]

Do you eat it? Do you avoid it? Are there pros/cons?

We've eaten a mostly plant based diet for quite some time and I'm trying to move even further from animal products for the most part.

Nutritional yeast seems to be a big deal in plant based recipes and I'm wondering how others use it, what you like about it or reasons it might not be as 'healthy' as some suggest.

[Mama Calidad]

We use it to make mac & cheese and also nacho cheese sauce during vegan stints. We like it. :shrug3

[ArmsOfLove]

it's amazingly healthy and cheesy :yum that's why it's in all the recipes :) It's not "yeast" as in leaven. It's "nutritional" yeast.

I'm actually glad you reminded me--Im' going to add it to my diet while I do the hcg :rockon

[NewLeaf]

so would nutritional yeast be a bad idea if someone can be prone to candida?

i've been wanting to try it for some time now and since i'm cutting down on dairy drastically i think it will be a staple for many of those recipes.

what is the flavor like?

[PurpleButterfly]

Crystal got us hooked on nutritional yeast years ago and my kids and dh beg for popcorn w/Earth Balance and nutritional yeast at least once a week! I use it insteaad of parmesan to thick spaghetti sauce, sprinkled over buttered noodles or rice, in mac-n-cheese, you name it. It is woooonderful stuff! :cool :yum

There is only ONE brand I will buy, however, and it has to be in the flakes not powder form. I have been disappointed in every other brand I've tried.

:tu http://www.amazon.com/KAL-Yeast-Flakes-22-flakes/dp/B00020HV1E

[ArmsOfLove]

not at all

it is super healthy--no drawbacks

and it honestly tastes like cheese :shrug3

now, get the yellow flakes. There is a brown ball "nutritional yest" that tastes nutty--that will throw your recipe right off :doh

if you eat popcorn I used to LOVE popcorn with margarine, sea salt, garlic and nutritional yeast. Tastes like cheeto's :yum

[Mama Calidad]

It's different than that yeast you'd cut out for candida.

By itself, it has too strong of a flavor for us. But it gives stuff a fairly cheesy flavor. :tu Here's a basic cheese sauce recipe that is what I based ours off of to make mac and cheese: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7057.0

[PurpleButterfly]

Tastes like cheeto's :yum

The very words that got me hooked a decade ago! :grin

[newday]

i love it on popcorn but haven't tried it in other recipes... hmmm. i'll have to do that :)

[April G]

Super high in protein and delicious sprinkled on butter popcorn... :yum I'm allergic to soy so I don't do this anymore, but my mom used to coat tofu in nutritional yeast and spike seasoning and pan fry it crispy. DEE-licious.

[Taedareth]

Nutritional yeast is the same as brewer's yeast, except that brewer's yeast tastes bitter because of the hops. Whereas nutritional yeast is grown on molasses (or other sugars) and is not grown in beer. That's why it tastes cheesy instead of bitter ;) We buy Red Star brand.

Snack food turned into uber health food: popcorn with butter and Himalayan pink salt (or Celtic sea salt or other unrefined salt) and nutritional yeast. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm cheesy popcorn!!

Nutritional yeast is high in B vitamins including folic acid, I believe. And I'm pretty sure it's been pasteurized, so there's no need to worry about yeast imbalances in your gut :)

In small quantities it does taste like parmesan cheese. But don't try mixing a tablespoon of it into a cup of water as a nutritional supplement. The flavor isn't THAT good :giggle

[Annainprogress]

Ah see now I'm keener to try it because I'm linking it to marmite in my head not baking yeast :ty for the thread :)

[NewLeaf]

i put it on my grocery list. i'm excited to try it. :yum i'm looking for a lot of vegan substitutes for some of the foods that we normally eat and a lot of them have this for an ingredient.

[BarefootBetsy]

I love nutritional yeast :heart Except during my pregnancy with dd1.... then I couldn't stand it :giggle

We always eat it on popcorn. A friend suggested putting sage on popcorn along with NY and salt and that is an awesome combination :rockon

We've used it to make cheese sauce before and we always get the yellow flakes from the bulk food section of the more natural grocery store in our area. It's quite affordable really. The price per pound sounds high, but it doesn't weigh much.

[thrillofhope]

:popcorn

[Mert]

Crystal got us hooked on nutritional yeast years ago and my kids and dh beg for popcorn w/Earth Balance and nutritional yeast at least once a week!

This is how we :heart it at my house. Ds who won't eat anything with "seasoning salt" on it (french fries, doritos, etc.) LOVES this and will eat NY with a spoon right out of the jar.

[breezy88]

How about storing it....I have a big bag in my freezer right now and a small container in the cupboard?
How much would you recommend in a small bowl of baby food .....a tsp? 1/2 a tsp?

[BarefootBetsy]

I store it in a glass container on my counter... one of the ones with a flip up lid and rubbery seal. I found a bunch at Goodwill one time for $1 apiece. They are great and keep everything quite fresh (from what I can tell)!

[AngelaVA]

:phew I'm so relieved this is healthy, we've recently discovered a love for it and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. I've got to try the popcorn.