Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast (usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae) sold as yellow flakes, granules, or powder. It’s popular in vegan and vegetarian cooking as a cheese substitute because of its nutty, cheesy flavor. It can be sprinkled on mashed potatoes, tofu, popcorn, or used in sauces.
How it’s made: Yeast is grown in a glucose-rich medium (often from sugarcane or beet molasses), then killed with heat, washed, dried, and packaged. This yields a whole-cell inactive product, different from yeast extract, which is a concentrate of water-soluble proteins for flavor.
Nutrition (per 15 g serving): about 60 calories, 5 g carbohydrates (0 g sugars), 3 g fiber, 0.5 g fat, and 8 g protein. It often provides B vitamins in notable amounts, especially when fortified, including B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12. It contains small amounts of minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium, and sodium, and contains no cholesterol.
Important note: the B12 found in fortified nutritional yeast is added during processing; yeast itself does not produce B12 naturally.
Summary: nutritional yeast is a flavorful, versatile, fortified topping or ingredient that adds protein and B vitamins to meals, with a focus on vegan-friendly B12 in fortified varieties.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:16 (CET).