Nutritional Yeast: a History and How you can use it
Of all the vegan ingredients to come on the market, nutritional yeast (also called “nooch”) is perhaps the strangest. From a distance, it looks unappetizing, disturbingly similar to fish food with its small yellow flakes, and cylindrical containers. It stands on the shelf in both the baking section as well as the ‘health foods’ section of one’s supermarket, confusing potential customers as to where it should belong in our diets.
It’s also happens to be one of the most popular ingredients used by vegans and vegetarians. Some swear by it as the best, possibly essential topping on popcorn. Others will put it on everything from soup, to salads, to marinades, making it a daily addition to their diet.
But what it is exactly still leaves consumers confused, and it makes sense why. Despite its popularity in vegan circles, it’s not nearly as well-known elsewhere. But why not? How did the product ever reach the grocery market in the first place and what is it good for now?
Brewer’s Yeast
It began appropriately in a brewery in Germany. A German scientist by the name of Justus von Liebig (1803–1873) became interested in the waste produced from creating beer, called brewer’s yeast. Before, this byproduct was simply tossed out, assumed to be inedible. Von Liebig however was particularly interested in plant nutrition and waste. As a chemist, he was one of the first advocates for conservation, going as far as to even recommend recycling sewage. Through a series of experiments, von Liebig discovered that this byproduct of deactivated yeast actually carried several nutritional properties and could be readily consumed for added health benefits.
The first company to market brewer’s yeast was the Marmite Food Company in the U.K. in 1902. Brewer’s yeast looked dark brown, almost like ground meat, and was used to create a dark, salty spread one could use on toast or baked goods.
From its inception, Marmite was a successful food product, if not a uniquely strange-tasting ingredient. (Marmite is commonly used as a metaphor for something that’s an acquired taste).
Something happened then that would make brewer’s yeast one of the biggest and earliest health fads in history. The term “vitamin” had just been coined in 1912, and the new trend was finding key ingredients or foods that would infuse one with vitality and life. Atherton Seidell, yet another chemist, wrote an article in 1916 about the marvelous properties and vitamins to be found in brewer’s yeast, deeming it a remedy for a wide variety of ailments.
The popularity of brewer’s yeast soared from there. The Marmite Food Company soon marketed the product both “for health and good cooking”. Brewer’s yeast became a key food in the world wars, particularly for feeding troops. It also gained popularity in America where yeast-producing companies like Fleischmann’s or Red Star created other yeast products.
Other yeast products, and the birth of nutritional yeast
Brewer’s yeast was just the beginning. Though popular, marmite has a particularly bitter flavor that not everyone can appreciate. By 1950, a new product had entered the marketplace, this time manufactured by the Red Star Yeast company in America. By then, a new process of heat drying the yeast on glucose had just been established, changing the product almost completely. Instead of creating a wet, brown substance, the process deactivated the yeast and created the small yellow flakes we now associate with nutritional yeast. They were just as savory as marmite, but more palatable, which overall made them a more popular product for the masses.
As plant-based diets became more fashionable in the 1970’s, nutritional yeast became all the more prominent as a source of plant-based protein and B vitamins. (Many nutritional yeast products also market that their product is a good source of B12, though it’s important to note that nutritional yeast is fortified with this vitamin; it does not naturally carry B12).
For those eating vegan diets, it was also the only ingredient that came close to providing a cheesy flavor to dishes. Though the first plant-based cheeses entered the market in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, the flavor and texture were wanting. Nor were there as many options there are today. Though nutritional yeast is obviously nothing like cheese in any respect, somehow the taste could mimic that of beloved dairy dishes. In pasta sauces for instance, nutritional yeast can be used to create a satisfactory ‘cheesy’ flavor to an otherwise dairy-less dish.
The strange popularity of Nooch
Many vegans would have you think it’s the flavor of nutritional yeast that makes it popular still (at least for plant-based eaters), the health benefits being just an added bonus. The reality is a bit more difficult to discern. Though undoubtedly a great provider of umami, not all consumers seem as obsessed with nooch, and some even actively dislike it. Many non-vegan consumers seem drawn to it for its health properties rather than its potential use in the creating a delectable dish.
There’s also the fact that beyond the plant-based or vegan circle, nutritional yeast isn’t as mainstream as other plant-based products. When compared with oat milk or tofu, for instance, nooch isn’t nearly as popular, nor are consumers as primed to accept it into their kitchens.
What’s more, as more vegan cheeses enter the market, nooch’s popularity may wane somewhat. In situations where vegans and vegetarians would’ve used nutritional yeast for that cheesy flavor, we now have a multitude of other plant-based options to use instead, some of which are much closer in flavor profile to the dairy variety they’re attempting to mimic.
Despite this, nutritional yeast is beloved enough by those that have championed it for decades, that nooch will surely keep it’s superfood status.
And whether you eat plant-based or not, nooch might be worth trying sometime. There are no risks in doing so, and it just might become your new favorite kitchen ingredient. For ideas on ways to incorporate this into your diet, see below:
Perhaps the most famous use for nutritional yeast, Nooch Popcorn is seriously simple to prepare. This particular recipe from Budget Bytes calls for sriracha and nooch for a distinctly hot, but fun spin on a favorite snack. (Use plant-based butter or olive oil instead of butter to make fully vegan).
Nooch can be used to create what’s known as ‘Nutritional Yeast Dressing’, which tastes much like Caesar’s dressing, but perhaps a bit more vinegary. Try Flavour and Savour’s dressing as a starting point.
Nutritional yeast is great to use in pasta sauces where Parmesan or other cheese normally would steal the show. This entirely vegan Alfredo sauce from the Vegan 8 calls for cashews and nutritional yeast to get a dairy-free creamy, cheesy sauce.