A plethora of delectable alternatives. From cheesecake to vegan parmesan in a flash, once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back.
Something about the term “nutritional yeast” doesn’t sit well with me. Vegans have sought to reclaim the phrases by coining the term “Nooch,” although it also sounds off-center. We call it magic dust at VegNews (as do three-year-olds, although kids don’t always know what they’re talking about). Don’t be thrown off by the name if you’re new to nooch. With a can of nooch in hand, you can convert boring vegetables into cheesy treats, prepare a smooth cheese sauce for pasta, and give cheesecake its trademark savory flavor.
Here are 16 creative uses for the most delicious meal with the most obnoxious moniker.
- Cheese Sauce
There are literally dozens of vegan mac and cheese recipes online and in cookbooks, but nutritional yeast is the one ingredient that all of them have in common. It gives this fundamental sauce color and a cheesy flavor, and while you may add additional ingredients like cashews, tofu, potatoes, and spices, the nooch is a must-have.
- Vegan frittatas and omelets
If a frittata isn’t an open-faced omelet, what is it? Whatever you name it, it’s in desperate need of some nooch. Nutritional yeast, which is often produced with tofu or chickpea flour, gives this vegan eggy batter a brighter yellow hue and an umami taste. Top your omelet with extra nooch once it’s cooked to a lovely fluffy consistency with just the proper amount of browned edges.
- Hollandaise
The emulsification of an egg-based hollandaise sauce must be perfected, otherwise, the sauce would “break” and become an unsalvageable curdled mess. Fortunately, the vegan version does not have this problem. Even a novice home chef can combine a few ingredients in a blender and whisk them together over a burner until the result thickens. Serve it over a tofu-topped English muffin for a delectable vegan benedict, or just dip toast in the silky smooth sauce.
- Cheesecake
We understand that cream cheese is used in cheesecake, but to fully imitate a New York-style piece, you’ll need to add some nooch. Just a sprinkling will add that salty tang to balance out the sweetness. Bonus: it’s really amusing to observe other people’s faces when you tell them it’s vegan after they’ve helped themselves to another piece.
- Nacho cheese with queso dip
You can create queso if you can make a good mac and cheese sauce. For that cheese taste, the nooch is required. You can also use it to make Queso Blanco (white cheese)—just the perfect quantity will keep the dip from turning orange.
- Quiche
Nooch is required to produce a good quiche, just as it is for omelets and frittatas. Nooch is required if you’re reproducing eggs, as a rule of thumb.
- Popcorn
Sprinkle a healthy amount of nutritional yeast over your popped kernels for finger-licking excellent popcorn at home. Pro tip: coating the nooch with melted vegan butter before sprinkling over the popcorn will help it stick better. There’s no need for a recipe here; simply add nooch to taste.
- Soups with broccoli or potato and cheddar cheese
Few dishes are more warming than a silky smooth potato cheddar soup on a cold winter night. Yes, melting vegan cheese shreds adds a cheesy taste, but nutritional yeast disperses the ingredients more evenly and pulls them all together. This method also works for broccoli soup or any other soup with a cheddar base.
- Scrambled tofu or chickpeas
If Remember that nooch is required for vegan egg recipes. We can really say that we pushed our message through and our work is done 😊.
- French Toast Vegan Style
Let’s have a look at this in more detail. What are the ingredients in a typical french toast batter? Eggs. What’s the best way to cook vegan eggs? Well, there are a few, but one of them is nooch. Even with sweet foods, don’t be afraid of the salty.
- Custard
Another egg application has been found. Egg yolks are whisked into boiling milk or cream to make the foundation of a typical custard. Vegan variations rely on cornstarch, plant milk, and frequently tofu to recreate the creamy texture of this delicacy, but a little nooch is always necessary for that yolky hue and somewhat savory balance.
- Caesar salad dressing
In a vegan caesar dressing, nutritional yeast serves two purposes: it replaces the egg and provides the umami notes often associated with anchovies. Thank you very nice, however, we prefer our salad without mixed fish.
- Alfredo sauce
For a delicious vegan alfredo, all you need is a pinch. The nooch won’t change the color, but it will give this luscious sauce more depth of taste. For a luxurious veggie side dish, consider gently boiling collard greens or chard in this sauce instead of pasta.
- Parmesan cheese
It’s amazing how closely a few items may resemble the contents of that green parmesan cheese shaker. Simply blend seeds or cashews with nooch, salt, and garlic powder for a delicious pizza and pasta topping. Don’t stop there, though. This is something we keep on hand in a mason jar and use on anything from roasted vegetables to crunchy-topped casseroles and vegetable gratins.
- Kale Chips
Kale chips are little more than dried kale without nutritious yeast. An otherwise boring vegetable chip gets a hefty coating of nooch, which adds flavor and jagged chunks of cheesy texture.
16. Sprinkled generously over everything
This one doesn’t require a recipe. We don’t spoon nutritional yeast directly from the package, but we do generously sprinkle it on just about everything else. Some may claim that it is preferable to salt. Steamed kale, salad, pizza, spaghetti, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, tomato soup, and chili are just a few of our favorite meals that always get a coating of nooch. That’s a fairly condensed list, but we’ll save the encyclopedia for later. Go ahead and nosh it up!
