Nutritional Yeast

I often use nutritional yeast in recipes and you may have seen it in one of these previous blogs: smashed cauliflower, chickpea salad, popcorn, or dairy free lasagna. Lately a few people have been asking about it, so I wanted to brag about this awesome ingredient that I think everyone should have in their pantry.

Nutritional yeast is inactivated yeast fortified with several vitamins. It has only 1 gram of fat with a whopping 4 grams of fiber and 8 grams of complete protein for a 1 1/2 Tbsp serving. It has a cheesy flavor and can be used in many recipes instead of cheese or for topping on salads, pastas, sandwiches, and such. It is in the form of flakes and can be sprinkled like parmesan cheese. Keep in mind, it tastes different than cheese and very different than parmesan cheese; it has it's own unique taste when eaten plain, but when mixed in dishes it is hard to tell it isn't REAL cheese. So if you are looking for: a way to cut back on high fat cheese and increase protein, avoid stomach discomfort after eating dairy, or just a new flavor in some of your favorite dishes, nutritional yeast is it!

Nutritional yeast is about $3 per container and can be purchased at most health food stores in the cooking section or in the bulk section(for cheaper). I urge you to give it a try, what do you have to lose?