During my fourth pregnancy, I was having a conversation with our midwife about how we love making homemade popcorn for a healthy, high-fiber snack, and she mentioned how unbelievably good “nutrional yeast” is sprinkled on top. Nutritional yeast!? It sounded kind of gross, but my curiosity was piqued, and now I use it all the time! Let me tell you more about it…

I feel like I should first mention, nutritional yeast will not lead to unfavorable yeast growth in your body (you know you were wondering!) and actually is considered a medicinal remedy for candida symptoms. So now, lets leave the ‘gross’ factor behind and move on to why it’s so good!! Different than brewers yeast, nutritional yeast is inactive and so I’m sorry to say, you won’t be making kombucha, beer or bread with it… but the good news is, there are plenty of other reasons to love it! Nutrional yeast is high in B-complex vitamins (and sometimes fortified with B12 – which is why vegans and vegetarians can benefit) and is also a complete protein (2 tbsp = 9 grams), with all 18 amino acids! Nutrional yeast contains many vitamins and minerals, and just as its considered a remedy for candida, it’s also considered a remedy for loss of appetite, diarrhea and immune function (repairing cell and tissue damage) and reducing the risk of cancer. Nutrional yeast is high in fiber, gluten and dairy free, and low calorie.

Nutrional yeast is a primary grown culture strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae; it’s a fungus, grown on a food source like cane sugar or beet molasses (sugar beets) and then harvested, heated, dried and flaked. You may be tempted to buy nutrional yeast grown on beet molasses, thinking that sounds healthier than cane sugar – but guess what? Did you know that virtually all sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically modified (future post coming about why you should avoid genetically modified foods). Your safer bet, is to buy the variety grown on sugar cane molasses!

What does it taste like? Nutrional yeast has a savory, umami flavor that is slightly nutty and resembles the taste of Parmesan. I love to use it on the following foods:

• Popcorn
• Cauliflower
• Asparagus
• Kale chips
• Mashed into a baked potato
• Replacement for cheese in pesto sauce
• Chickpeas
• Added to soups or stews
• Processed with walnuts and then sprinkled on salad
• Added to scrambled eggs
• Mixed into vegetable broth
• Making a vegan “cheese” dip or sauce when I want a break from dairy

Elizabeth recently posted a shot on BigLittleBites Instagram of her lunch with garlic aioli made with nutrional yeast – I can’t wait to try making that myself!  Have you tried nutritional yeast? Tell us how you love to use it!

– ❤Mich