This is Nooch.
Nooch is an insider term for nutritional yeast. And it’s not the stuff you feed your goldfish. (Although that stuff may actually have nooch in it. )
Nooch is hands down the most popular condiment amongst the plant-eating world. (More popular than Cholula? I know right?!)
But apparently it’s used in everything and is a great source of B12. I’d describe its flavor as a cross between nutty and umami, almost cheesy.
According to this small set of vegans I met at The Post Punk Kitchen forum the best introduction to nooch is “noochy toast.”
1. Make toast. (You know what toast looks like already.)
2. Spread with Earth Balance.
3. Sprinkle with nooch.
4. Pop it in the toaster oven.
It’s great.
You know what else it kind of tastes like? Chicken bouillon.
And you add a little garlic? It will make a fine (can you see this coming?) garlic bread.
So PPKers know I’m legit now. Now to convince the people at fanforum…
woo! now that you’ve mastered noochy toast, the next step is mac & cheeze with a noochy sauce. there are lots to choose from, but my very favorite is the cheezish macaroni in the glad cow cookbook. (and i’ve never actually had noochy toast, so you’re one up on me.)
I love that you gave us another recipie! I tried the almond milk you made and it was good! I will have to give this a try. I have a couple of nieces that went veggie, and I love to cook, but tend to get stumped for ideas so they may end up with only two or three things to nibble on when I make a big meal.
You can’t go wrong with chili. Gain extra points if you top fries w/ ‘em. Extra, extra points if you use non-dairy cheese or a noochy cheese sauce.
Mm, nooch! I also really like it sprinkled over pasta with tomato sauce!
i use nooch in anything that i want to taste cheesy. it reminds me of the mac and cheese that has the powdered cheese. you should try adding cashews to some of your recipes. they give everything a meaty, cheesy flavor.
my friends put it on popcorn… mmmmm
Thanks for posting, Jorge. Will have to give it a try. I just checked out The Post Punk Kitchen and added it to my bookmarks.
Haha, you rock Jorge! I’m glad you are digging the nooch. I had some noochy tofu scramble w/ cremini mushrooms and spinach this morning. De-lish!
love PPK!!!!!
Favorite thing to make with nooch: cashew cream sauce.
1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked if you don’t have a Seriously Badass Blender)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 tablespoon (or more) nooch
Blend in a blender or food processor until it’s sauce. Eat it on steamed veggies, or think it with more milk or water and use it as salad dressing. A little goes a long way.
You were always legit. The ppk loves you!
My husband and daughter both love noochy toast. I hate the smell of it myself. I don’t mind it in sauces or IN things, but not in any dry form – i.e. on my toast and on my popcorn. :-p
Awesome.
Be still my beating heart.
Here in Boulder, CO we call it ‘hippie dust’. It’s pretty awesome. There is a local guy here (famous ultrarunner) named Scott Jurek that introduced me to it. I believe he’s coming out with a vegan cookbook pretty soon.
So glad to see you post about nooch! It’s awesome on popcorn too and in any vegan mac & cheese recipe.
Feel free to try out my mac & cheese recipe from my blog (featuring nooch): http://tuxedocat.us/2011/creamy-vegan-mac-cheese
PPK for life!
Just checking if my response went through. It says it’s still awaiting moderation.
We’ve been eating nooch for years here. My kids just call it yellow stuff. So we often have toast with yellow stuff or my favorite, everything bagels with yellow stuff.
I eat Morning Star Farm products. Does that count?
I had noochy toast for breakfast!
Thanks so much, Jorge! Nooch also makes a great vegan mac and cheese. I think there are a couple recipes for it in Appetite For Reduction and maybe one in Veganomicon.
wow, I’ve been vegan for a few years, and I NEVER knew that this was a thing. Nooch on plain popcorn is pretty good too.
I’m going to have to try that, nutritional yeast is the best.
My new favorite toast is something I recreated from a great pizza place in Seattle w/ tons of vegan options (Razzi’s):
1. rub frozen bread slice with garlic (the frozen bread sort of acts like sandpaper w/ the garlic, making it so you don’t have to mince the garlic). or skip the garlic part.
2. spread with a thin layer of pesto. the garlic in the pesto means you can skip step 1 if you want.
3. top w/ vegan mozzarella cheese.
4. put in toaster oven until toasted
It’s really good. Probably even better if I used french bread instead of Killer Dave’s. Gotta love Killer Dave w/ his whole grains
.
try it on popcorn too! it’s a very easy introduction (tastes almost like Parmesan on popcorn!) yum.
It’s also fantastic on popcorn (also with EB) and is a great addition to vegan pesto!
I’m glad I’m not the only person that calls it NOOCH!
Nutritional yeast is the BEST. Try it on oatmeal or grits (me EVERY DAY), or add it to potatoes or other vegetables before roasting. Also really good for coating tofu in. SO GOOD. Definitely my favorite condiment =)
Nooch toast is the most awesome thing eva!
As a PPKer, I would just like to say…..POPCORN!!!!!!!
And I bet those hippie era Dharma folks had a canister somewhere. Just saying.
You should check out Nacheez. It’s an awesome vegan “cheese” sauce made from raw cashews. It comes in mild and spicy (I believe she’s working on a medium, too), and is totally awesome and versatile, and I say this as a person who isn’t even vegan!
They’re only in one store in Canada right now, but you can order online too. I hope you like it too
http://www.nacheez.com/
Mmm, noochy bread! Love it.
Nooch is a vegan godsend and so is the PPK! Jorge, I’d be happy to send you some free jars if you would like to try my Nacheez! http://www.Nacheez.com (Thanks for posting that, Kira!)
I don’t know why I read that as Post Punk Kitten. Hmmm.
We DO love our cats over there!
Noochy popcorn is the best! Basically the same treatment – popcorn + EB + nooch. I could live on that.
Also… Jorge Garcia is a PPKer! This made my day!
Thank you for sharing. I’ll have to try it.
Oh this makes me so happy! You’re real!! And you’re fabulous. <3 from the PPK
My favorite use is in minestrone soup! I put about a tablespoon in a bowl and mix it in. So yummy.
JorgeSquee!
that cashew cream sauce is AWESOME on kale! sometimes the grossest sounding foods are the BEST!!
I had no idea that there was another name for it other than simply “nutritional yeast.” Grew up with the stuff … I particularly liked it sprinkled on popcorn, but apparently as a toddler I also loved it mixed with apple juice (a frothy delight). Haven’t had it in years, but seeing how your readers use it, I might just have to give it another go.
Thanks!
We’ve been using nooch on popcorn for years. I never once thought about it on toast. Thanks for the heads up!
I’ve been eating “nooch” for about three years now, but never called it “nooch”. I love the name! Great post. I make this cheese sauce: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7057.0 and use it on pasta, over broccoli, on vegan philly cheese steak sandwiches. It’s a great base recipe you can easily customize to your liking, more or less salt (I usually use half the salt) and more or less garlic etc. and it has a wonderfully cheese-like taste and consistency. Makes great comfort foods like vegan mac n’ cheese too.
Jorge, you are awesome and us PPKers love you! If you haven’t already, you should check out the amazing vegan options at Wild Rice, Cafe Kathmandu, and Nuba in Vancouver. Also great: Panz Veggie (downtown), Chau VeggiExpress, Grub, Chutney Villa, and Saravanaa Bhavan. Thanks for being awesome, and I hope you like BC! And yes, it’s lame that you have to pay a quarter for a shopping cart.
i can not tell you how many times I’ve made the nacho cheese from the ultimate uncheese cookbook. I even mix up a big batch of the dry ingredients and keep it in a jar until I’m ready to have nachos. just take 1/4 cup of the mix, mix it with 1/2 cup water and a tsp or so of chickpea miso and a squirt of yellow mustard and cook on the stove. vegan convenience food at it’s finest.
<3
Growing up, my mom always sprinkled it on popcorn with garlic, salt, and parsley. It was so delicious!
Woo hoo! He’s legit, AND he likes noochy toast! I actually use nooch most often in my salad dressing, a recipe I got out of a book called “Becoming Vegan.” it’s such delicious dressing!
Whoop Whoop! Gotta love some nooch! You’re officially “legit”!
yay for nooch!!! my hubby and i have noochy toast for breakfast all the time!! his favorite has peanut butter instead of earth balance though. yum yum yum. nooch is an amazing ingredient
noochy toast is gloriously good. hooray for noochy toast and the PPK!
i like to sprinkle nooch on roasted broccoli, add some in meatless tempeh-beanballs and homemade veggie burgers, and it’s awesome sprinkled on mashed potatoes, too!
also excellent as additional garnish on a good wholesome soup.
Wow, I have never, ever heard of this stuff! I am going to have to check out my local stores.
Nooch is awesome!!! I put it on almost everything. And my cat likes it too~ I sprinkle it on her food!!
Just had to tell you that I just finished watching tonight’s Alcatraz and Doc made me all teary. My fingers are crossed that this stays around.
I live in a tiny Czech town in the middle of nowhere..West, By Goddess, Texas..the chances of me finding nooch here is the same if I was looking for something lo-cal or lite, or having less than 50 carbs in it..but I’ll look the next time I hit the health food store in Waco, Full of Baptists, Texas…
saw the show tonight..was terrific..but most exciting was you have Leon Rippy…I love Leon almost as much as I do the kolaches they make in West..tell him I said howdy.
I convinced them at the fan forum.They were so excited.It’s hard to believe you are so available to your fans. Something I’ve appreciated about you so much through the past couple of years. Off to listen to Diego’s soul patch. Can’t wait to hear it. I’ve missed Geranimo’s Jack’s Beard. I hope you guys have the same formula for your new podcast.
Wow, FanForum is still around? Who knew?
I love your blog, and am especially enjoying your adventures in veganism. I’m not vegan, but my old roommate is, and she writes an amazing blog (sort of the veggie version of Julie & Julia) taking all the Betty Crocker recipes and veganizing them. http://www.meettheshannons.net That’s all. Thanks for continually entertaining me!
Ahhh… I see you found Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I highly recommend her Vegan Cupcakes cookbook (pumpkin chocolate chip – the best!). And I love her Appetite for Reduction. The only thing I like nutritional yeast on is popcorn though. I would love to try it on this though… http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/03/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze/
Sounds like it’s a yellow version of vegemite. You can’t go wrong with Vegemite!
Yay, nooch! It is FANTASTIC on popcorn.
ppk ftw!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh man this is my favorite snack! So simple and yummy!
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been a vegetarian for 23 years, and I am trying to go vegan. I need all the tips I can get as I have no vegan friends to help me and the vegan recipes I see are intimidating. Thanks for being my vegan friend.
Green Earth (A healthy grocery store here) makes this tofu dish that is AMAZING. They slice tofu into wide thin pieces, and marinate them in Tamari (a type of soy sauce) and sprinkle them with sesame seeds and that nutritional yeast and then they bake or broil them. WAY yummy!
It looks like keif.
I had to look this word up. Did it it get your hopes up when you saw it?