‘Nooch?’ – what it is, how you can use it and where you can find it in the UK

You have probably come across nutritional yeast (‘nooch’) in various vegan recipes. It seems a bit weird at first, so I’m going to try and explain what it is and where you can find it in UK supermarkets.

What is it?

Nutritional Yeast is an inactive form of yeast, which is naturally cheesy and nutty which makes it perfect for adding to vegan recipes. It is totally safe to eat! Some people eat it out of the packet , but most add it to sauces and sprinkle on top of dishes kind of like how you would use parmesan. Lots of nooch has added B12, something that some vegans are deficient in. It is also relatively high in protein and rich in many other vitamins.

Nooch in the UK

From my research, pretty much all UK nooch comes from the same company in Estonia. It is therefore pretty much the same price and nutritional profile. If you have a look on product pages, most will say ‘country of origin: Estonia’. You can buy small tubs by a company called Marigold in most supermarkets and healthfood stores. Or, you can buy in larger quantities from online stores like WholeFoodEarth and BuyWholefoodsOnline. Morrisons does an own brand version, and you may also find that your local zero-waste store stocks it.

The most common nooch in the UK is packaged and sold by Marigold; they sell a number of fortified, organic and non-fortified varieties but they all taste the same. You may wish to pick a fortified version to suit your own nutritional needs.

The Mighty Nooch?

At the moment, I get my nooch from WholeFoodEarth, sometimes via Amazon Prime (when I need it QUICKLY lol) but mostly through them directly, in bulk. I blend the flakes into a fine powder to make them easier to mix and dissolve. I am looking into importing my own nooch directly from the supplier, potentially selling it myself (at a lower cost than the rest of the market!)

My nooch-containing products are below!