Get two new free healthy recipes each week. Sign Up

The Vegan Wonder Drug

Red Star Nutritional Yeast is amazing stuff. It’s high in so many nutrients!

Did you know that 1 and 1/2 tablespoons has EIGHT grams or protein? If you think you might be deficient in a certain nutrient, or even if you don’t, Red Star nutritional yeast can make a great addition to any diet—especially a vegan diet, thanks to the Vitamin B12 it contains.

quiche

Above, in: Christmas Quiche Soup.

Have you ever tried nutritional yeast? If you have, what are your favorite ways to eat it? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

Published on April 11, 2010

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
featured on The 
Today Show, CNN, 
Fox, The 
Huffington Post, and 
ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

Learn more about Katie

Get Free Recipes

Don’t Miss Out On The NEW Free Healthy Recipes

Sign up below to receive exclusive & always free healthy recipes right in your inbox:

Chocolate Covered Katie The Healthy Dessert Blog Recipes

Popular Right Now

Reader Interactions

59 Comments

Leave a comment or reviewLeave a rating
  1. Meg says

    I LOOOOVE nutritional yeast! I love mixing it with stuff, like hot sauce, hummus, mashed avocados and everythaaang! So glad you did this post 😀

  2. MarathonVal says

    Like the previous poster, I LOVE nutritional yeast and put it on pretty much everything. I would venture to say that it is my #1 very favorite ingredient to have around! Love it!!

  3. *Andrea* says

    pizza+dessert=pizzert??

    LOVE the uses of nooch. i haven’t tried it yet though, but i’m sure i’d love it! i finally bought ground flax last year and now i enjoy it on everything!

    LOVEEEEEEEEE your meal posts! they are always so balanced and yummy looking

  4. vegangal says

    happy sunday katieee :). love nutritional yeast. so yummy. quiche too. never tried quiche soup but it looks yummy well have a good day!

  5. The Voracious Vegan says

    I love nutritional yeast so much and since it isn’t available here in Saudi Arabia we order it in 10 pound batches from the US. You’d think that would last us a while but you’d be wrong. I LOVE the stuff and put it on everything.

  6. Valerie says

    I missed most of those recipes when you posted them, so I’ very glad for the refresher course :).
    Happy Sunday to you!

  7. Keri - IEatTrees says

    I love nutritional yeast and use it to make dishes “cheesy” normally, but sometimes if I’m serving something I know my son doesn’t like/tend to eat then I’ll sprinkle a little nutritional yeast on it and he loves it! 😀

  8. McKella says

    I’m still learning to like nooch. Right now I’ll sprinkle it on pasta, but I keep trying it in new recipes. I’ll try it one way, like it at the time, then never want it again. Weird.

  9. caronae says

    I haven’t tried it yet! I see it everywhere. Since i’m a poor-ish college student, I’m afraid of spending money on something I won’t like. Maybe my mom should buy some for me, lol. The vegan mac n cheeze sounds good!
    Oh and I guess that pizzert is a dessert style pizza! Probably involving chocolate:)

  10. Diana says

    I have never tried nutritional yeast. I don’t even know if we have it here, honestly. I am curious though since I’ve read so much about it.

  11. vivaciousvegan says

    I like the nutritional value of the nooch, but I hate the smell and the taste. I wish I loved it, I wish I craved it, but I am repulsed by it. I use it sparingly in dishes, and while I use it often, it is difficult for me to handle the smell. But, then again when I ate meat, I never liked the smell of cheese either…

  12. Sarah says

    Not sure what I think of nutritional yeast yet. I know that i could potentially love it but just haven’t found the right context in which to have it…

  13. Kristie says

    Love me some nooch. I always forget about its cheesy goodness though, I think it needs a more prominent spot in my cupboard so I’ll eat it more often. I love love looove making nooch queso mmmmmmm.

    And that pizzert is going to have to go on my breakfast menu asap!

  14. abby says

    i’m glad to see i’m not the only one who just doesn’t get the nut yeast thing. i know its good for you, and your dishes all look so good, but it just has a weird taste to me!

  15. Aimee says

    I love getting inspiration from your blog, miss Katie. Thanks for putting this post together to help a nutritional yeast newbie like me out 🙂

  16. theprocessofhealing says

    Pizzert? Very cool!
    I love nooch!!! I’ll admit, it took me awhile to come around. I think it’s the whole yeast part that kind of freaks me out. My favorite way has been to eat it on salad with ketchup and mustard.. sounds weird but it is SO good!

  17. Stef @ moretolifethanlettuce says

    i love nooch!! so good. funny because i am usually all tuned in to the nutritional stats of foods (force of not-so-good habit) but i know very little about nutritional yeast, except that it’s good for you and has b vitamins. i’m glad to find out it’s REALLY good for you!

  18. Lori says

    Thanks for the ideas of more ways to use nutritional yeast. I have only used it in vegan queso and mixing it with hummus and putting on roasted veggies or salad (got that off of HEABs blog).

  19. Stefanie says

    I put nutritional yeast on things to give it a more”cheesy” flavor. When I first tried it I thought it was weird. The more I ate it the better it tasted. My family thinks I am weird for eating it but I don’t care. 🙂

  20. Kayla says

    It’s my favourite ingredient!
    I love putting it into porridge / oatmeal or oatbran. Makes for a scrummy brekkie.

  21. Danielle says

    I love me some nooch 😀 (Have I ever mentioned that the word “nutritional yeast” makes me cringe? Could they not come up with a name slightly more appetizing and less infection-sounding??) ew.

    My favorite way to eat it is in cheezy sauces & gravy!

  22. Melinda says

    Looks like you have found lots of good ways to use this. In my nutrition course for the vitamin section yeast shows up on most of the lists of foods for the vitamins, and my students always are amazed. So then I mention nutritional yeast (as it is now listed this way and a popular item), and they have that A HA! moment where it just clicks. It is nice that this is a great source of B12 for vegans/vegetarians who really can’t get it elsewhere.

  23. Sonia says

    ohhh I’ve had pizzert…probably not what you’re making though! The one I had was a sugar cookie “pizza crust,” sweet cream cheese “sauce,” and sliced kiwi and strawberry toppings!

    And…my fave thing to do with nooch…smother anything and everything with it! ahahaha

  24. Heather Eats Almond Butter says

    I love nutritional yeast Katie! People often ask me if I eat it for the nutritional benefits. Yes, but I mostly eat it for that yummy nutty cheesy taste. LOVE using it in cashew cheese sauce over steamed or roasted veggies. 🙂

  25. Jenn (www.j3nn.net) says

    I just recently bought nutritional yeast, but I haven’t had much of it yet. From what I have had though, I REALLY liked it!! I was impressed by the excellent nutritional profile it has, too. I sprinkled some of cauliflower soup-OMG, fabulous.

    Jenn

  26. Katherine: What About Summer? says

    Where do you get it? I would love to try it!
    Thanks for pointing out the protein source (I could use it!)
    Katherine

  27. lunchiemunchies says

    I love noosh! I much prefer calling it that, nutritional yeast just sounds weird :S I like it in savoury oatmeal and sprinkled on veggies. Thanks for linking to your quiche soup that looks so yummers and monster-mashed cauli. On the must-try list 🙂

    I saw the pizzert on Maggie’s blog and didnt’ catch on that it was “pizza” + “dessert”!! Oops! Looks fab though.
    Love ya Katie.xx

  28. Kelsey says

    i agree, its pretty amazing stuff that yeast. and its so crazy how it seems to go with everything!!!definite superfood for vegans, veg, omnis, and everyone in between.

  29. nutmeg86 says

    I put nutritional yeast on everything, it’s a good thing its so healthy!! I can’t wait to try the quiche soup, it sounds delicious!

  30. Gaby says

    woah! That’s a ton of protein! I knew it had a lot of B-12 and that’s important. This is good to know because I used like half a cup or more in a bowl of savory oats tonight 🙂
    I also make vegan mac and cheese with it about once a week, use it on pasta, kale chips, and many other things.
    Dessert pizza basically just seems like a mini cake, and I do make “single serving” cakes (meaning serves 4-5 normal people and one Gaby). They are quite tasty and convenient!

  31. Amanda says

    Hello chocolate friend! Passing along something that I just learned recently (you may already be savvy to this..I wasn’t)..I am working on a vegan nutrition guide with the local vegan association here in Boston..we hired a nutritionist to write it and when covering B12, she told me that you have to make sure that you are buying a fortified B12 nutritional yeast..there are indeed some out there that are not fortified. I think all the Whole Foods brands ones are but Red Star has a variety that is not fortified. You may already know this but I didn’t..I was actually a little shocked. Thought I’d just pass it along if it’s helpful!

    CCV’s note:
    Amanda’s 100% right. Not all nutritional yeast is fortified. Look for the “Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula” when buying. I *think* that’s the one Whole Foods always sells. But obviously I can’t speak for every Whole Foods, so if you get your nutritional yeast from the Whole Foods bulk bin, make sure that it says “Lessafre” or “Red Star” on the bin (or ask).
    Also: B12 is light-sensitive, so it’s also best to keep the yeast in the refrigerator or freezer, out of the light.

    I’d meant to mention this in my post, but forgot. So thanks a ton, Amanda, for pointing it out! 🙂

  32. Lauren says

    I love this stuff too! At first I didn’t really think it was anything special but it has really grown on me. I almost crave it these days! I use it to make “cheeze” sauce, as flavoring on kale chips, extra protein on my salads, you name it I’ve probably sprinkled it on there!

  33. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says

    I did a MASSIVE post on nooch about 2 weeks ago. Glad to see you tackling it too 🙂 And I got your other email reply, one post at a time girl, changing minds and attitudes. Even though I dont set out to do that, if i can in the process, it’s a good thing 🙂

  34. Rebecca says

    Hmm..doesn’t it seem odd to use something for B12 purposes that only has B12 because it is fortified? I always thought nutritional yeast was a natural form of B12…and although I adore the taste, I feel somewhat conflicted in using it as a B12 source if it is only added in there (why not just take a vitamin in that case?) hmm..quite a conundrum indeed!

Leave A Reply

Get Free Recipes

Don’t Miss Out On The NEW Free Healthy Recipes

Sign up below to receive exclusive & always free healthy recipes right in your inbox:

Chocolate Covered Katie The Healthy Dessert Blog Recipes