how to use savory yeast?

**ocicat** · May 8th, 2007, 08:45 AM

savory yeast ie nutritional yeast flakes
i tried this last month for the 1st time and one sniff put me off. however, determined to be vegan, i tried it in my risotto. BAD. put lots in but still couldnt get the cheesy flavour. lack of creaminess too, from a typical risotto made with butter and cheese.
however, i have come to love the yeast flakes.
my problem is: how to use them? added to cooking, i find it so mild that i can't taste it. can only use in really bland things, such as quick cooking oats, to turn it into savory porridge (i like my porridge!).
how to put on popcorn(as some suggest) and get it to stick onto the popcorn without just falling off?

**Pob** · May 8th, 2007, 12:57 PM

I use them in cheesy sauces, but with other things too, like yeast extract, parsley and onion powder. They add texture to the sauce as well as flavour.

I'm not sure how to get them to stick to popcorn either. Maybe grinding them really fine will work. I mixed smoked paprika, onion powder and nutritional yeast together and only the paprika and onion powder stuck

**twinkle** · May 8th, 2007, 05:29 PM

ocicat

savory yeast ie nutritional yeast flakes
i tried this last month for the 1st time and one sniff put me off. however, determined to be vegan, ...

You don't HAVE to eat nutritional yeast as a vegan, it's not mandatory!

I think people who have it on popcorn melt some margarine and pour that over first and that helps it stick. I would also say that traditional risotto doesn't have to have milk in, if it wasn't creamy enough maybe it wasn't cooked for long enough?

**harpy** · May 8th, 2007, 05:50 PM

If you can find special risotto rice such as arborio, that should produce a creamier result. I had a risotto in a vegan restaurant recently that had obviously had a load of soy cream dumped in it to make it creamy, but I didn't think it was a great idea TBH.

The yeast flakes are quite nice in a white sauce with mustard added to it as well - Smoothie has a good recipe for that. Another thing you can do with them is grind them up with some almonds and a little salt to make a sprinkle for pasta etc. Think that's from one of Joanna Stepaniak (sp)'s "Uncheese" books which have a lot of suggestions for using nutritional yeast.

**fiamma** · May 8th, 2007, 09:02 PM

Harpy is right, you need the right type of rice to get that creamy risotto consistency - arborio is good, or carnaroli. I use nutritional yeast in tofu scramble, but I never expect it to taste like cheese, because to me it doesn't!

**ocicat** · May 12th, 2007, 04:45 AM

"determined to be a vegan" - meaning i dont want to eat cheese.
i actually enjoy savory yeast but find it too mild. added to dishes, i cant taste it
at the moment i'm just eating it out the the pack with a spoon! Mmmm....!

**ocicat** · May 12th, 2007, 04:47 AM

fiamma

Harpy is right, you need the right type of rice to get that creamy risotto consistency - arborio is good, or carnaroli. I use nutritional yeast in tofu scramble, but I never expect it to taste like cheese, because to me it doesn't!

it WAS made with arborio rice
my friend made it once with arborio rice, butter, lots of parmesean cheese (before i became a vegan) - delicious
then i turned vegan and asked for it not to have meat or dairy. rice and veg were still the same. but the taste was very different. no matter how much savory yeast i added, couldnt get a cheesy taste....