Why Nutritional Yeast Is on the Menus of New York’s Most Stylish Restaurants—And Why You Should Be Eating It

Recently, while ordering a macrobiotic plate at dinner in New York City, my waiter asked, “Would you like nutritional yeast on that?” I bristled—even as a beauty and health editor, the words macrobiotic and yeast were a bit much to handle in one sentence—and politely declined. But as soon as I had my first encounter with the curious garnish, like a Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, I started seeing the savory grape-skin-derived flakes everywhere. There it was dressing the kale chips at the Butcher’s Daughter and draping the Mediterranean Toast at Gingersnaps. “What is the deal with nutritional yeast?” I finally asked a friend who works at Edible Schoolyard, over dinner at Dimes, where our Street Corn Cups came strewn with the ingredient. She responded with a shrug, adding, “We put it on popcorn at work.” Even Alice Waters devotees were doing it.

Had nutritional yeast been right under my nose (and on my plate) the whole time? According to Atlanta-based certified nutrition specialist and physician Tasneem Bhatia, the food additive has largely found its audience among vegetarians, who often struggle to maintain sufficient vitamin-B levels in their meat-stripped diets. Since it is rich in B1, B2, B6, and folic acid and often fortified with B12—all of which are great for mood stabilization and hormone health—it’s become a popular way to sprinkle on a nourishing boost. And with the vegetarian diet becoming more mainstream in restaurants by the minute (the presence of root vegetables on menus has grown nearly 50 percent in the past year, and even protein-driven chef April Bloomfield launched a greens-centric cookbook last spring), it makes sense that we might all benefit from filling in nutritionally where the beef, pork, and chicken left off.

The subtle flavor, which some liken to cheese, is precisely what chef Gerardo Gonzalez had in mind when he topped off El Rey’s vegetarian chicharrones with a “heavy dusting” of nutritional yeast. When taking traditional Mexican street food away from its fried pig-skin past and into the realm of the healthful, vegan, and indulgent snack (one that involves cashew “sour cream,” sour plum sauce, radish, sumac, jicama, chili flakes, and mint), nutritional yeast provides a “savoriness that you would get from meat or dairy. It’s a way to capture those flavor profiles without using animal products,” says Gonzalez. Bhatia agrees, saying that at her house, they use it “like grated cheese.”

It’s important to note that nutritional yeast is not a replacement for vitamin B or folic acid—in fact, Bhatia points out that the amount present in a tablespoon is a mere fraction of your daily recommended value—but it certainly won’t hurt to toss it onto your popcorn, pizza, or macrobiotic mélange. With its soft, Parmesan-esque taste, say Gonzalez, “the benefits [will] become secondary to the flavor.”

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