6 delicious ways to use nature’s Cheeto dust: nutritional yeast

Sprinkle these umami-packed flakes wherever you’d reach for Parm

Welcome back to Cool Beans! Today’s newsletter is dedicated to an ingredient that’s been with us since our very first recipe. Nutritional yeast is the GOAT for adding big, cheesy flavor to plant-based dishes, and with The Bean closing in on its first birthday, our beloved “nooch” is long overdue for its moment in the sun. If you’re less familiar with this pantry superstar, we get that the name can be a bit off-putting, but nutritional yeast has been a staple of nondairy diets for decades. So what exactly is it?

Nutritional yeast is a dried, inactive form of baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It’s grown in large tanks of sugary liquid, fermented, rinsed, and then heated to deactivate the yeast. The resulting flakes won’t make bread rise, but what they will do is add a savory, umami-rich sprinkle anywhere you want a Parmesan-like boost. In addition to a well-earned rep as “nature’s Cheeto dust,” nooch also has a pretty impressive nutritional profile. One 2-tablespoon serving has 600% of your daily vitamin B12, which is typically hard to come by on a plant-based diet, and 5 grams of complete protein. In need of some inspo for what to do with those flaky friends? We’ve got you covered. 

6 ways to get more nooch in your life 

In 1975, The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook featured an entire chapter devoted to nutritional yeast, including a recipe for mac and cheese, a common gateway dish for nooch newbies. Today, it’s hard to find a nondairy version of any cheesy dish that doesn’t include it. But this savory, shelf-stable seasoning can do so much more than macaroni. These are some of our favorite ways to harness its cheesy power—including a couple super-simple ideas for first-timers. 

1. Fun dip for your veggies 

Watch these veggies disappear. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Ready for an easy way to make fresh veggies disappear? Dunk them in a savory riff on sugary Fun Dip. Sohla El-Waylly’s mix of nooch, ground pistachios, and ranch seasonings—what she calls Ranch Fun Dip—is a playful shelf-stable version of a crudités centerpiece, and a clever way to get kids (and adults) to down more raw veg. It lasts for weeks in a sealed jar and makes for a stellar creamy dip when stirred into yogurt or sour cream. 

2. Plant-based cheeses

There are plenty of ways to add creaminess and heft to simple nondairy cheeses, but they’re nothing without nooch. Blitzed together with cashews, it’s the star of our plant-based Parm. Blended up with cashew butter, miso, and chipotles in adobo, it makes a killer queso for your nachos, “cheese” fries, or pretzels.

3. Pasta sauces 

Nooch is pretty dang essential for getting any pasta sauce its fair share of cheesy goodness. (Even one of our favorite boxed macs uses it.) It’s the key to giving plant-based bechamels a satisfying tang, but you can also add it to vodka sauce or blend it up with herbs for a dairy-free pesto. 

4. Soup thickener 

In addition to its umami superpowers, nutritional yeast also has textural muscles to flex. It’ll help thicken up broths, dressings, and dips. We love using it to fortify brothy beans or veggie stock with extra nutrients and added creaminess. Just stir a few tablespoons into the simmering liquid and let it work its magic. 

5. Popcorn topper 

More and more snacks are hitting grocery store shelves pre-dusted with nooch, but simple home-popped popcorn might have to be our favorite vehicle for the cheesy, salty sprinkle. You can add any additional seasonings you like (we particularly love a dash of dried rosemary and red pepper flakes), but a basic flavor weapon is as simple as nooch, salt, and coconut oil. 

6. Dairy-free Caesar 

My personal intro to nooch came in the form of salad dressing, specifically from a desire to make a plant-based Caesar that was as good as the one at Lalito, my old Chinatown standby. Caesar dressing typically includes egg yolks, Parmesan, anchovies, and Worcestershire sauce. At Lalito, it was made with nutritional yeast, seaweed, and spirulina algae and came massaged into a mountain of kale.

My version has evolved over the years to be a bit more pantry friendly. I tap silken tofu for creaminess (and a protein boost), capers for tang, and nutritional yeast for cheesiness and umami. It all comes together in the blender in seconds before it’s ready to bathe a bowl of greens, or, in today’s case, a picnic-perfect pasta that wants to be a salad. It’s the best of both worlds—and gets even tastier on day two.

The salad of the summer. Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

Caesar Pasta Salad

Yield: 6 to 8 servings