Nutritional yeast is a staple in any vegan diet. It is rich in nutrients such as iron, protein, and vitamin B12 to name a few, that vegans lack in their daily diets.
Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast and contains many health benefits, but it is widely praised by vegans for its uncanny taste resemblance to cheese and is a key component in vegan cheese recipes.
It is also known for having a nutty taste while not containing any nuts, making it perfect for people who are allergic and looking for a replacement.
You can use nutritional yeast in so many ways, there isn’t a correct way to consume it as it is all based on preference. You can sprinkle it over dishes, add it to sauces, or add it to your favorite recipes, the choice is yours.
We’ve put together some easy vegan recipes that incorporate nutritional yeast so that you can begin to add vital nutrients into your diet and make your recipes tastier. These are great recipes for first-time nutritional yeast cooks to have a go at, or you may be looking for ways to make your dishes more exciting.
Below are the recipes that will make you fall in love with nutritional yeast, or if you already have, you’ll definitely love it more after this!
Almond Ricotta
Finding tasty vegan cheese can be so difficult for vegans as store-bought cheeses can be too rubbery or don’t taste like cheese at all. Almonds may seem like an unlikely choice to put in vegan cheese as they are stereotypically used in sweet dishes like marzipan and macarons. However, they work exceptionally well in resembling ricotta cheese.
If you aren’t a fan of almonds, you can substitute them for virtually any nut of your choice, such as macadamia or cashew. Alternatively, you can make nut-free ricotta with sunflower seeds or tofu.
All you need for this recipe is water, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and almonds. It is preferred that you buy almonds without the skins, but you can remove the skin yourself by soaking them in water.
Begin by boiling the almonds in water, and if you choose to keep the almond skins on, add a little longer to the boiling time. Rinse the boiled almonds under cold water and add everything to your blender and blend until you reach your desired ricotta consistency. Add water to thin the ricotta if you wish.
Serve your ricotta in sandwiches, on crackers, in pasta dishes, or as a dip. Enjoy!
Vegan Mashed Potatoes
This may seem like a very simple recipe to be included in this list, but this is the creamiest vegan mashed potato recipe that you wouldn’t know was vegan.
Firstly, boil your potatoes. Once they’ve boiled, drain your potatoes and add them back into the pan. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, dill, nutritional yeast, powdered vegetable broth, and yellow mustard to the pan and top with plant milk of your choice. Oat milk would work perfectly in this recipe as it is known for its creamy taste.
Stir the potatoes and the ingredients added around the pan to make sure the potatoes and evenly coated in the mixture. Once you’re happy, mash the potatoes until you reach your preferred consistency.
Add more plant milk for a creamier texture, and add any other herbs or spices that you like to have in your mashed potatoes. Once you’re ready, serve your mashed potatoes as part of a meal or on their own for the ultimate comfort food.
Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
This pumpkin mac and cheese is the perfect fall recipe as it contains pumpkin, the ultimate fall ingredient. This recipe is really quick and easy to make, and the sauce is so creamy it will warm you instantly on those cozy evenings.
You will need pumpkin puree for this recipe which you can either buy at the store already made or make fresh at home. To do this, you will need to slice your pumpkin up, place it in a roasting dish, and drizzle it with olive oil and herbs, and spices of your choice. Roast the pumpkin until it is soft and blend until it reaches a puree consistency ready to add to your mac and cheese sauce.
After you begin to boil your macaroni, boil your cashews to soften them before blending. Once you’ve drained the cashews, add them to a blender along with garlic, onion powder, nutritional yeast, salt, nutmeg, turmeric, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, pumpkin puree, and plant milk, and blend until smooth. Add extra plant milk to reach your desired consistency if the sauce appears to be too thick.
Vegan Parmesan
This Italian classic is the perfect alternative to store-bought vegan parmesan that hasn’t quite been hitting the spot. It is difficult to find authentic vegan cheese in the supermarket, but this recipe is highly nutritious and ingredients can very easily be substituted to suit you.
To make your homemade vegan parmesan, you will need nutritional yeast, garlic, salt oregano, and hemp hearts. Hemp hearts can be quite hard to come by, but you can easily substitute them for cashews, macadamia nuts, or sunflower seeds. Just be sure to blitz the nuts or seeds in a blender before you add them to the parmesan mix.
Add all of your ingredients to a jar and then shake, mixing them together really well. You may want to give the ingredients a good stir to make sure they’re mixed thoroughly.
That’s your vegan parmesan! You can sprinkle the parmesan over pizza, pasta, soup, or anything you want. It’s fresh, healthy, and most importantly, delicious.
Vegan Scrambled Egg
This vegan scrambled egg is packed full of protein as the vegan egg is made from tofu. Tofu is known for not having a lot of flavor by itself, and that is why it’s the perfect meat or dairy substitute as you can flavor it however you want.
Break apart your tofu into a pan and lightly fry before adding plant milk, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, nutritional yeast, garlic, and turmeric. Cook until the tofu is fully coated in the spices and is warmed through, and add some more plant milk if you’d like creamier-tasting scrambled eggs.
Lightly sprinkle Kala namak over the scrambled tofu after you have taken it off the heat, as the Kala namak will give the tofu an eggy taste.
You can serve your vegan scrambled eggs as you wish, accompanied by vegan sausage and toast, or by maple syrup and vegan bacon. You can enjoy however you like!
Vegan Pesto
This vegan pesto is nutty, cheesy, and everything we love about pesto. Except this pesto is better than any other pesto because it’s oil-free. There’s nothing worse than pesto that is so oily that it ends up soaking through your bread or your pasta, so this recipe makes sure that you have incredible tasting pesto without any oily nightmares.
You’re probably wondering how you’re going to thin out the pesto without oil, but there is a much healthier alternative to oil. Aquafaba is the liquid you find in a can of chickpeas, and this is what will be your oil replacement in your pesto.
Add your spinach, toasted pine nuts, and basil to a blender and blend until smooth. Next, add your nutritional yeast, black pepper, lemon juice, garlic, and aquafaba to the spinach, pine nuts, and basil, and blend it all together.
There you have it, oil-free vegan pesto. This recipe is so quick and simple to make, and you can add it to all sorts of meals which is perfect for a busy day.
Vegan Deviled Eggs
These vegan deviled eggs are a spicier version of the tofu scrambled eggs, so you can add as much fresh chili, chili powder, or hot sauce to this recipe as you want.
Once you make the tofu scramble, you can prepare the deviled egg ingredients for the tofu scrambled eggs to be mixed with. In a bowl, mix together vegan yogurt or mayonnaise, dill, mustard, white wine vinegar, and pickles until they are all combined. Add the tofu scrambled eggs to this mixture and mix until the tofu is completely covered.
You can serve your deviled eggs on bread, in a salad, or in a sandwich. For authentic deviled eggs, you can use boiled new potato halves as replacements for egg whites.
Vegan Queso Dip
Vegan queso dip is the perfect party dip to make to impress your guests, and it is creamy, cheesy, high in protein, and totally vegan!
Boil your cashews until they become softer, and then drain and add them to a blender. Blend the cashews along with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, vegan plain yogurt, water, cumin, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Blend until smooth, as you don’t want any lumps of cashews in your queso dip.
Transfer the dip from the blender into the pan and heat the queso dip through. Keep the dip on the heat until it reaches your desired thickness and remember that it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Garnish your queso dip with fresh chili, tomato, and cilantro and it is ready to serve. Serve with crusty bread, crackers, celery, and cucumber. You can also add some chili into the actual dip if you are looking for an extra kick of spice.
Tofu Nuggets
Vegan tofu nuggets are perfect for any time of the day, and the nutritional yeast adds a cheesy, nutty hint to the nuggets. As previously mentioned, tofu is perfect for seasoning as it doesn’t have much of a flavor on its own, and the paste makes an effective chicken marinade.
Combine water, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, vegetable broth powder, and sweet paprika, and mix to make a paste. Break apart your tofu and mix it into the paste, making sure all of the paste is evenly distributed over the nuggets.
Bake the tofu until it is crispy and golden, and serve however you like. Serve with fries for a perfect homemade fast-food feast.
Vegan Garlic Aioli
This homemade vegan garlic aioli is full of protein and flavor and is the perfect condiment to serve any meal. The aioli recipe is oil-free, making it a fantastically light addition to any chips that will put all the other dips to shame.
The aioli is very simple to make, as you just need to add fresh garlic cloves, silken tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, black pepper, dijon mustard, and white wine vinegar to a blender and blend until smooth.
Once all of the ingredients are smooth, serve up your aioli ready to be dipped or added to any meal. Add any elements of spice if you would prefer a spicier flavor, either with hot sauce or fresh chilis.
Orange Tofu
Orange tofu is the perfect combination of an earthy, salty, and sweet meal. It is a classic Chinese dish that is loved by many, and now you can make it in your own home and enjoy it whenever you want!
Make a paste to coat your tofu pieces similar to the paste for the tofu nuggets. Combine water, soy sauce, ground ginger, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, and powdered vegetable broth, and mix until it forms a paste.
Evenly coat the tofu pieces in the paste and bake until they are crispy.
Into a pan, add fresh orange juice, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, and water, and bring to a simmer. Once the sauce is simmering, add the orange zest and garlic cloves into the pan and stir. Add some cornstarch to the sauce and simmer until it becomes thicker. Once you are happy with the sauce, pour the tofu into a pan and mix until the tofu is coated.
Serve with rice to recreate this classic Chinese-style dish.
Crispy Chickpeas
This garlic and parmesan crispy chickpeas are a great snack that is a healthier replacement for chips. These chickpeas are delicious and packed with flavor and nutrients.
Rinse and drain your chickpeas and pat them dry with a paper towel. Once the chickpeas are dry and place them on a baking tray and roast until they are warmed through.
Put the chickpeas in a bowl and combine with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, oregano, and lemon juice. Mix the chickpeas and bake until they are crispy.
Once the chickpeas have cooled, enjoy either on their own or as the perfect salad topping.
Vegan Potato Soup
Vegan potato soup is a warming, hearty dish that is best served on a cold, winter evening. You can choose which vegetables you want in the soup and it can be stored to have over a few days.
Prepare and chop your vegetables and add them to a heated pan to lightly fry until they soften. Add garlic, oregano, thyme, parsley, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper to the vegetables and stir.
Add your plant milk, vegetable stock, and potatoes to the pan and boil until the potatoes soften. Add nutritional yeast into the pan to make the soup as cheesy as you want.
Once the potatoes are soft, remove the soup from the heat and serve with warm crusty bread for the ultimate cozy comfort food.
Vegan Palak Tofu
Palak Tofu is a vegan version of palak paneer, an Indian cheese curry, where the cheese is replaced by tofu to still give the dish that creamy texture and flavor.
Combine lemon juice, nutritional yeast, water, and salt in a bowl until it forms a paste. Break apart your tofu into the bowl and mix into the paste, making sure the tofu is well coated in the mixture. Place the tofu onto a baking tray and bake until they are golden.
For the palak sauce, add coconut milk, spinach, onion, tomatoes, chilis, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, lemon juice, and cilantro to a blender and blend until it forms a smooth sauce. Transfer the sauce to a pan and simmer to thicken, and once it has thickened add the tofu and stir well.
Serve with rice and naan bread, and enjoy!
Conclusion
Nutritional yeast has many health benefits and can be used in a wide variety of dishes. However you choose to serve your nutritional yeast, you will add vital nutrients to your meals and you will most certainly have a stronger and healthier vegan diet.
