Nutritional Yeast Substitute

amusedmonkey
amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I'm planning to make seitan. Those who know me on here know that I'm not a big fan of meat. I'm getting sick of chicken, and I remember eating seitan and liking it better than meat.

I found vital wheat gluten by chance yesterday. It's a rare find, so I bought it right away. I looked at all kinds of recipes, even purchased a book. All of the good recipes have nutritional yeast. I was unable to find that anywhere, so I'm looking for a substitute. It doesn't have to be vegan, and I'm hoping substituting stuff won't ruin the texture. From what I've read, the recipes need to be followed very precisely.

Any thoughts?

Replies

  • sgcorrie
    sgcorrie Posts: 22 Member
    How much does it call for? It's for flavor, so you can probably just add some dry veg broth powder instead. You can find nutritional yeast in most bulk food sections (most being key here!)
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    sgcorrie wrote: »
    How much does it call for? It's for flavor, so you can probably just add some dry veg broth powder instead. You can find nutritional yeast in most bulk food sections (most being key here!)

    It calls for 2 tbsp and the recipe already has dry broth powder. I don't live in the US so these obscure foods are near impossible to find. I can't even find tofu unless I look in specific stores, and even then it's too expensive to buy often. If it's just for flavor I could theoretically just increase the broth powder, but wouldn't that make it too salty? Or is nutritional yeast salty too?
  • sgcorrie
    sgcorrie Posts: 22 Member
    I wouldn't worry about including it! It's more of an umami taste, I guess. If you have garbanzo bean flour then add a bit of that instead. Otherwise just add a little bit more gluten flour and a splash of soy sauce.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited February 2017
    Thanks. I'm planning to have this in a mushroom dish in lieu of beef, so I'm not worried about the lack of umami. Mushrooms have plenty of it.

    ETA: If it's only for the umami, and if I use it for different dishes, I might use MSG. Thank you again.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    edited February 2017
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    So I'm planning to make seitan. Those who know me on here know that I'm not a big fan of meat. I'm getting sick of chicken, and I remember eating seitan and liking it better than meat.

    I found vital wheat gluten by chance yesterday. It's a rare find, so I bought it right away. I looked at all kinds of recipes, even purchased a book. All of the good recipes have nutritional yeast. I was unable to find that anywhere, so I'm looking for a substitute. It doesn't have to be vegan, and I'm hoping substituting stuff won't ruin the texture. From what I've read, the recipes need to be followed very precisely.

    Any thoughts?

    How much nutritional yeast is in the recipe? (ETA: Sorry, there weren't any replies when I started typing.) I'm assuming it's just a small amount for flavor, and it's in there because people assume anybody who wants to make seitan is vegan -- and maybe they want it to get some B12 in their "meat". Are you still eating other animal products (including dairy and eggs), even though you're sick of chicken?

    For a substitute, just decide what flavor profile you want, and add something dry that will get you there (e.g., grated parmesan, powdered cheddar, ground nuts). Since nutritional yeast has a fair amount of fiber, the nuts might be the safest best. Oooh, does your store carry kale chips? Some of them are dusted with nooch. Even if they're not, finely crushed dehydrated roasted kale might work for texture. Or crushed roasted seaweed.

    Or order nutritional yeast online. I've ordered Bob's Red Mill nutritional yeast from Amazon.

    Last thought: I question the idea that "all of the good recipes have nutritional yeast." It's certainly not traditional (not, I guess, that starting from dehydrated gluten is strictly speaking "nutritional," but it's what I would do too if I were going to make it at home -- but all you really need to add is water). Normally seitan gets its flavor from whatever you do with it after you've made it -- like a braising liquid or a glazing sauce. I'm fairly confident Chinese Buddhists making mock duck a thousand years ago didn't have access to nutritional yeast :smile:


    ETA: Now that I know what the recipe you want to use it in is, one other suggestion is that if you're using dried mushrooms in your dish, you could pulverize one or two in a blender or food processor and use the mushroom dust as a substitute for the nutritional yeast. (If you're using fresh mushrooms and you have a way to dehydrate a couple, you could do that first, and then crush them.) But you should be fine just leaving out the nooch out rather than substituting something.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    sgcorrie wrote: »
    How much does it call for? It's for flavor, so you can probably just add some dry veg broth powder instead. You can find nutritional yeast in most bulk food sections (most being key here!)

    It calls for 2 tbsp and the recipe already has dry broth powder. I don't live in the US so these obscure foods are near impossible to find. I can't even find tofu unless I look in specific stores, and even then it's too expensive to buy often. If it's just for flavor I could theoretically just increase the broth powder, but wouldn't that make it too salty? Or is nutritional yeast salty too?

    Nutritional yeast can taste a little salty, but not anywhere near as salty as broth powder (assuming that broth powder is something you add water to and end up with broth that wouldn't need more salt).
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    So I'm planning to make seitan. Those who know me on here know that I'm not a big fan of meat. I'm getting sick of chicken, and I remember eating seitan and liking it better than meat.

    I found vital wheat gluten by chance yesterday. It's a rare find, so I bought it right away. I looked at all kinds of recipes, even purchased a book. All of the good recipes have nutritional yeast. I was unable to find that anywhere, so I'm looking for a substitute. It doesn't have to be vegan, and I'm hoping substituting stuff won't ruin the texture. From what I've read, the recipes need to be followed very precisely.

    Any thoughts?

    How much nutritional yeast is in the recipe? I'm assuming it's just a small amount for flavor, and it's in there because people assume anybody who wants to make seitan is vegan -- and maybe they want it to get some B12 in their "meat". Are you still eating other animal products (including dairy and eggs), even though you're sick of chicken?

    For a substitute, just decide what flavor profile you want, and add something dry that will get you there (e.g., grated parmesan, powdered cheddar, ground nuts). Since nutritional yeast has a fair amount of fiber, the nuts might be the safest best. Oooh, does your store carry kale chips? Some of them are dusted with nooch. Even if they're not, finely crushed dehydrated roasted kale might work for texture. Or crushed roasted seaweed.

    Or order nutritional yeast online. I've ordered Bob's Red Mill nutritional yeast from Amazon.

    Last thought: I question the idea that "all of the good recipes have nutritional yeast." It's certainly not traditional (not, I guess, that starting from dehydrated gluten is strictly speaking "nutritional," but it's what I would do too if I were going to make it at home -- but all you really need to add is water). Normally seitan gets its flavor from whatever you do with it after you've made it -- like a braising liquid or a glazing sauce. I'm fairly confident Chinese Buddhists making mock duck a thousand years ago didn't have access to nutritional yeast :smile:

    I don't do eggs often (digestive problems with egg whites) and I eat tuna sometimes. I also eat meat that is prepared in very specific ways, but it's not frequent. Once I have it I don't want to even look at it for at least a month. I get plenty of dairy, but apart from milk I don't have access to many low fat dairy options so it's not the greatest source of protein for me.

    The reason I want to do seitan is that most sources of protein I like are calorically expensive per gram of protein, like legumes, which I often supplement with tuna or chicken as a concentrated source to reach my goal without having to eat nothing but legumes, and I need something different. I went from eating chicken once every 2-3 weeks to eating it several times a week, but even in different recipes it still tastes like chicken and I'm sick of that. Seitan is pretty versatile as a meat substitute and the protein has a great caloric cost. I do have protein powder, but it doesn't fill me up. I would rather eat than drink my protein when possible.

    The main reason I'm afraid of substitutions or omissions is that I've read a lot of horror stories about botched seitan and would rather avoid that.

    I have some of the most amazing dried forest mushrooms, hand picked by us last summer. I like the idea of adding crushed mushrooms! Thanks for that!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited February 2017
    Settled on a roast-type seitan. Added crushed mushrooms instead of yeast and thought it would be less risky in the oven. It turned out phenomenal! For the first time in my life I was able to have a normal meal with more than 30 grams of protein without feeling like I'm forcing it. It was delicious. Had it in a big sandwich with BBQ sauce and I'm still grinning.

    ETA:
    The calories per protein were also great, much better than expected, even after frying in butter. 224 calories per 100g of seitan and 32 grams of protein.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Settled on a roast-type seitan. Added crushed mushrooms instead of yeast and thought it would be less risky in the oven. It turned out phenomenal! For the first time in my life I was able to have a normal meal with more than 30 grams of protein without feeling like I'm forcing it. It was delicious. Had it in a big sandwich with BBQ sauce and I'm still grinning.

    ETA:
    The calories per protein were also great, much better than expected, even after frying in butter. 224 calories per 100g of seitan and 32 grams of protein.

    That sounds amazing! I have made seitan with the leftover water I've used to rehydrate dried mushrooms and it was so good. I never would have thought of crushed mushrooms, but now I want to try it.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Settled on a roast-type seitan. Added crushed mushrooms instead of yeast and thought it would be less risky in the oven. It turned out phenomenal! For the first time in my life I was able to have a normal meal with more than 30 grams of protein without feeling like I'm forcing it. It was delicious. Had it in a big sandwich with BBQ sauce and I'm still grinning.

    ETA:
    The calories per protein were also great, much better than expected, even after frying in butter. 224 calories per 100g of seitan and 32 grams of protein.

    That sounds amazing! I have made seitan with the leftover water I've used to rehydrate dried mushrooms and it was so good. I never would have thought of crushed mushrooms, but now I want to try it.

    Oh! That's another great idea. I will try it next time, and there definitely will be a next time.

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