Your Best Bet: Brewer's Yeast

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Nutritional yeast is a great way to add cheesy, nutty notes to a variety of dishes. It is a dairy free seasoning that also happens to be highly nutritious. You can use it as a vegan substitute for Parmesan cheese and as a nutritional supplement; however, it may not be available on your local grocery store's shelves. If you are having a hard time finding it and need some in a hurry, try one of these nutritional yeast alternatives. Your Best Bet: Brewer's Yeast
Brewer's yeast is a single cell organism that feeds on sugars and excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol. It is removed from beer, dried and deactivated before being processed into flakes or a powder. It is a good source of proteins and other nutrients that it takes up while it is alive. It gets these nutrients from the grain it feeds on when being used to brew beer. …show more content…

Brewer's yeast can have a mildly beery aftertaste, which means that you should start with a smaller amount than your recipe requires for nutritional yeast and increase to taste. Use 2 teaspoons of brewer's yeast for every tablespoon of nutritional yeast that your recipe requires. A Decent Second Choice: Parmesan cheese
If you are not particularly interested in a vegan option, Parmesan cheese can be a good alternative to nutritional yeast. Parmesan cheese is cheese made in the style of Parmigiano Reggiano from Parma, Italy. It is known for its nutty, savory flavor. That flavor is very much like that of nutritional yeast, which is why nutritional yeast is widely considered the best vegan substitute for Parmesan cheese. Note that Parmesan cheese is not even close being as nutritious as nutritional yeast despite having a similar flavor. Rather, it may have some nutritional drawbacks due to its cholesterol and sodium content. Use Parmesan cheese as a 1:1 replacement for nutritional yeast. In a Pinch: Soy

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