Please share your nutritional yeast 'cheez' recipes! I messed up mine! :(

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Ok, I'm slowly ready to give up on trying any further with nutritional yeast! I love it sprinkled on veggies and such but since I decided to cut down on the real cheese again and do my own versions of 'cheez', I've tried a few recipes and they all tasted nasty!!!

The main recipe was like 1/2 c nutr. yeast, some flour, garlic, onion powder, plant milk, some oil (I think), heat it all up until melted and done.. but the taste is just awful!!!

I tried 'saving' it by adding 1 c of cooked white beans to it that I still had as a leftover, but it's still not better!..

Any suggestions, please!?! I'd really appreciate that! [I also don't want to let the entire batch that I made now go to waste..]

ETA: I have a few recipes for 'cheeze' with cashew nuts and as soon as I find some here in this country (even things like tofu are extremely hard to get!) I'll give it a try, but until then I was hoping I could make something with the nutr. yeast, you know?..

TIA!

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Nobody?

[crunchy_mommy]

I don't know, I think it's an acquired taste. The only think I can suggest is add something like tomatoes or salsa, sometimes that helps the flavor a bit.... What do you dislike about it?

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

I don't know, I think it's an acquired taste. The only think I can suggest is add something like tomatoes or salsa, sometimes that helps the flavor a bit.... What do you dislike about it?

That's for sure! 

What I dislike about it? Hmm.. it's just very intensely 'yeasty' for the lack of a better word.. and quite salty!

The recipe I used was supposed to also be an option for 'melty cheez' over pizza etc. but I think I rather just use EVOO and sprinkle a bit of nutr. yeast over my veggies instead of doing this again..

Maybe it's for the better after reading about the MSG being high anyway..

[crunchy_mommy]

Nut. yeast on a pizza just never really worked for me. I do like it as one element of a pasta sauce (mac & cheese type of dish) or to dip tortilla chips in, and I use it to flavor soups as well. It does sound like you might like non-nut.-yeast 'cheezes' better. Try using just a tablespoon or so in your foods (like to add a slightly cheesy flavor to pesto, for ex.) I actually hated nut. yeast for quite a while after I first tried it, but now I'm kind of addicted to it lol.

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Yes, I've been searching for cashew nuts already and as soon as I've found them, I'll give it a try for that kind of cheese.

I looove nut. yeast sprinkled on popcorn, so maybe it's just the thick sauce that's an overkill for me? Or maybe I'll be like you one day and grow to love it!? LOL

[Earth Momma]

this has cashews so I'm not sure if it helps.....

1 cup of raw cashews

1 cup of water

1/4 cup pimentos

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp onion powder

1 Tbsp lemon juice

soak the cashew in the water - the longer the better (an hour)

put all the ingredients in the blender and blend for a couple minutes until super smooth

*at first I used a regular blender and found this recipe adequate - once I got a vitamix and made this recipe, it's like melted velveta!!!

[Earth Momma]

oh and raw made a HUGE difference too :)

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Thank you, Earth Momma! 

I really must find some cashews here!!! 

-- I envy you for your Vitamix!!! 

[josamen]

I'm not much help here....If I ever do decide to go vegan I'd probably just buy the vegan cheese from the store and just trust the experts....LOL!!!!

[squidink]

If you're looking for something specifically for pizza, I love using super-caramelized onions in place of cheese/cheez.  I think packaged fake cheez is totally gross and much of it isn't vegan, if that's a consideration for you.  

Here's how I like to do onions: 

Heat some olive oil over low heat, maybe 1-2 tablespoons

Slice 3-5 pounds of your favorite kind of onion as thin as possible (a v-slicer or mandoline works great for this.)  It seems like a ton of onions, but they cook way down.

Add the sliced onions to the pot with a big pinch of sea salt to help them start sweating.

Cover & stir about every 15-20 minutes, less if you're lazy.  Since the pot's on low, they'll take forever to burn.

Let them cook for a long time.  I sometimes do 4 or 5 hours.  I like them to be deep brown and really smushy.

They don't mimic the creaminess or the meltiness of cheese, but they're so decadent-tasting that they make a pretty good substitute on pizza, sandwiches, in your morning tofu scramble, or wherever else you like them.

When I transitioned away from eating animal products it was helpful for me to stop thinking about attempting to make plant foods mimic them.  There is nothing in the plant world that behaves the way that fermented dairy does, so if you're anything like me, trying to find a substitute for cheese will always leave you disappointed.

[FitMOmmyOf2]

Thanks so much for your input, squidink! I'll have to try that!  I love oninons!!!