A question about a recipe: Tofu "Egg" Salad What is nutritional yeast ?

Thanks Everyone For Answering My Question. Greatly Appreciated.

Nutritional Yeast, lovingly referred to as "nooch" by vegans, is a magical ingredient that gives food a rich, cheesy flavor. It smells kind of stinky, but so does cheese. Another reason it is great is that is kind of thickens. So whether you are making tofu scramble, mac 'n' cheese, or a creamy pasta dish, your sauce will have a lot better texture if you add some nooch.

The great thing about nutritional yeast is that you can keep a container of those flakes in your pantry for a long time and it will never go bad. Can't say the same for cheese! Once you start using it, you will get hooked! As mentioned above, I like to pair the use of nooch with other ingredients, like vegetable seasoning/broth, mustard or turmeric (for color).

I even put nutritional yeast in my vegan French vanilla ice cream recipe to give it that egg-y flavor and color!

If you want to go the extra mile to make your tofu egg salad taste like real eggs, sprinkle in some black salt. You can buy it at Indian and Southeast Asian markets. Black salt smells like the sulfur also found in eggs.

I like that idea susan g, fried tofu sandwhich

I looked at the recipe after answering (don't do that again!), and see that the turmeric and mustard will give you plenty of yellow -- so leaving it out won't be a problem. But try it!
My other favorite use is for breading -- 1 part cornmeal, 1 part nutritional yeast, seasonings. Is developed it for fish, then found as a vegetarian that it is perfect for dredging tofu in, for Fried Tofu Sandwiches -- top selling sandwich when we had a natural foods deli.

thanks to nannydeb I have been experimenting with it on and in some recipes and I really like it. You find it in the bulk bins at WH or other health food stores. Everyone says use it in place of cheese and I think that is a mistake unless you are vegan. It is not cheese and you will be disappointed if you think it is going taste like cheese. That is not to say it is not good. I have made the tofu "egg" salad and it is wonderful and the yeast definitely adds a nice touch to the flavor.

Look for Red Star Nutritional Yeast Flakes -- they will give you the taste you need. There's another type, a brown powder with a nutty taste (brands Kal or Lewis Labs) -- same nutrition, different taste. Both kinds are used as add in's for smoothies, sprinkled on popcorn; known as an energy booster, full of B vitamins, trace minerals and about 50% protein. ...also good for pets, especially for skin and coat problems. Look in a natural food or supplement store.
The old fashioned kind is brewers yeast, which was a by-product of beer brewing. It had the nutritional properties, but was notoriously bitter.
Back to the eggless salad: If buying the yeast is not an option, try turmeric, but only in small amounts. It will give the yellow color you want, but you don't want to overdo for taste reasons.

Tofu is bland so I add it for flavor. It's great sprinkled on many foods or added to soups. You can find it bulk in many stores.

It's a deactivated form of yeast that vegetarians and vegans use in cooking because it produces a cheese-like flavor. It has a TON of lean protein (I believe 8g for 2 tablespoons) and you can sprinkle it over pasta or popcorn instead of cheese.