Which Nutritional Yeast To Buy? Seven Product Comparison

With so many different options for Nutritional Yeast on the market, which is the best to buy? Today we will review all the brands currently out there and shed some light on each one.

Bragg Nutritional Yeast Seasoning

At only 4.5 ounces, this version is the least expensive option currently on the market (Less than $6). This makes for the Bragg product to be a great starter choice for anyone looking into getting started with Nutritional Yeast. Here are the Pros for this product:

• Easy to use. The flakes are applied with only a shake of the bottle.
• B12 Fortified.
• It does have a strong cheese flavor to it.

Overall I give the Bragg product 4/5 stars. It does a great job as a beginner product, but gets pricey when wanting to buy larger amounts at one time.

Now Foods Nutritional Yeast

Now Foods is one of the few companies to offer both the flake and powder form of Nutritional Yeast. I will review the flake form since it is the most popular of the two offered. Here are the Pros for the flake form:

• Mild flavor, less sharp than most brands of Nutritional Yeast.
• Large flakes. 
• Fortified with B Vitamins. 

Now Foods receives 2/5 stars from me. Call it being picky, but I simply do not like the look of Now Foods plastic bottles holding a food item. I understand that many kinds of powders/flakes are held in plastic bottles to keep out moisture, but I simply do not like the white tub look. However, I must commend them for making a well flavored product.

Hoosier Hill Farms Nutritional Yeast

Be careful on this product. Amazon.com does not sell it directly, so the price can fluctuate from time to time. Otherwise, here are the Pros:

• Comes in a nice plastic, resealable jar.
• Sold in 1 lb increments. It is nice to have a bunch on hand.
• Flavor is a bit more gourmet than other brands. Slightly more nutty while still being mild.

Hoosier Hill  Farns gets 3/5 stars. While both the flavor and packaging are certainly nice, the price is pretty high to be paying for this brand.

Bob's Red Mill Large Flake Nutritional Yeast

There is a motto in my household, you can never go wrong with Bob's Red Mill. Does the motto still hold up when it comes to Nutritional Yeast? Here are the Pros:

• Flakes are definitely large. Remains flaky and not at all powdery.
• Sharp cheese flavor.
• I trust the B12 claims here more than other sources.

Bob's Red Mill made another fine product here, I give it 4/5 stars. In particular I think the cheesy taste is great with Bob's, but it does tend to be one of the more divisive Nutritional Yeasts on the market where some hate it and some love it. Price point for this product is a bit high, so be aware of that.

Kal Nutritional Yeast

Of all nutritional yeasts offered, Kal here is the best bang for the buck. Does it deliver? Let's look at the Pros:

• Size. At 22 oz, this is a lot of Nutritional Flakes to be buying in one purchase. Thankfully, the price is very competitive.
• Taste of these flakes is cheesy. I would term Kal the standard taste of Nutritional Yeast.
• Packaging for these flakes is nice, it is like buying rolled oatmeal in cannisters at the store.

Kal receives 5/5 stars from me. With a great taste, price, and packaging, the product offered by Kal is simply the best I have been able to find online.

Red Star Nutritional Yeast

Rounding out the last item on the list is the Red Star brand. There may be a bit of debate on this product, but I will try to stage it evenly. Here are the Pros:

• Cheapest source if you can find in bulk bins. This is the bran my local food co-op sells at a great price.
• Taste is okay, also a very standard flavor.
• If buying online, the packaging is nice and easy to use.

Red Star Nutritional Yeast when buying online only gets 3/5 stars from me due to its high price for a small amount of product. When bought from bulk bins, it receives 5/5 stars.

Conclusion

Kal Nutritional Yeast receives my vote for the best Nutritional Yeast to buy online. It tastes great and is sold at the most reasonable price. It arrives in a nice package that is easy to store and should last you for several months at a time.

Nutritional Yeast: Where To Buy

Nutritional Yeast is not the most common ingredient you will find in kitchens all across America. No, it remains an incredibly niche item only vegans seem to use. With that said, vegan centric products are by no means easy to source and purchase.

 Local Sources

Walmart certainly will not cater to our needs, so finding it in a small town in America will likely not be happening. I have found it before in a locally owned grocery store that had a health food section, but the price on the Nutritional Yeast was absolutely outrageous.

Your best bet for finding a local source is going to a local co-op or a Whole Foods. At the local co-op I frequent, they sell Nutritional Yeast in the bulk bins for a very reasonable price at $7.99 a lb. Apparently Whole Foods does not carry Nutritional Yeast in its bulk bins and you will need to buy a prepackaged version instead.

Online Sources

For anyone unable to find a great deal on Nutritional Yeast in a bulk bin purchase, I would recommend just buying it online. Amazon.com offers plenty of variety when it comes to choosing which brand of Nutritional Yeast you get, all for a competition price.

Slight differences do exist in nutrtional yeast from one brand to another. That is the great thing about Amazon.com, if you do not like one brand, just choose another. Want Nutritional Yeast flakes? Okay, go with this product. Want Nutritional Yeast powder? Fine, go with this brand.

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Nutritional Yeast: A Quick Rundown

It seems like all new vegans find out about nutritional yeast within a month of going vegan. Rather than finding out about it myself, my vegetarian mother actually introduced me to the stuff. For anyone still in the blue, I will run through its basics.

• Nutritional yeast is mainly branded as a cheese substitute for vegans. When baked it sort of looks like cheese, and tastes a little like what cheese tastes like.
• Most nutritional yeasts are loaded down with vitamins, including B12. It is always good to get extra B12 in the diet, but you should still supplement the vitamin.
• Nutritional yeast is sold in a flaky or a powdery form, most prefer the flakes. 

That is really all there is to this vegan centered product. I see plenty of debate online as to whether nutritional yeast is the greatest thing to grace vegan kitchens, or if it is only meh.

My own personal favorite use of nutritional yeast is to add a couple of hearty sprinkles to a dish of baked or mashed potatoes. The nutritional yeast will thicken the potato dish up a good deal and make everything taste a little creamier.

Other great dishes to sprinkle nutritional yeast over include:

• Kale Chips
• Vegan Pizza
• Popcorn

You can find nutritional yeast sold at health food stores in either the bulk bin or in individual packages. Keep in mind though, nutritional yeast is pricy, even when buying in bulk. At the local organic co-cop in my town, nutritional yeast runs at $7.99 a lb.

Amazon.com also has a great selection of vendors for nutritional yeast. Prices here are competitive
with what you could find locally. Keep in mind too, a little goes a long way with nutritional yeast.

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