Creamy Nutritional Yeast Dressing
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Nutritional yeast, alongside apple cider vinegar and garlic, gives this dressing an umami-rich flavor you can’t resist. You’ll find yourself wanting to drizzle it on everything!
I’m a huge fan of homemade dressings and have posted a ton over the years! One of my favorites has always been this oil-free zesty tahini dressing with nutritional yeast. And this nutritional yeast dressing is a spin-off of that one, only without the tahini and even more nutritional yeast. I originally created it as a dressing for my kale and cabbage salad, but honestly it’s delicious on just about anything. I like using it as a drizzle for steamed veggies and as a dip for baked chicken tenders.
What is Nutritional Yeast?
Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast made from molasses. It’s yellow in color and sold as flakes, granules or powder and can be found in the spice section or bulk bins of health food stores. I typically buy Bob’s Red Mill large flakes from Thrive Market.
Nutritional yeast has the word “nutritional” in its name for a reason! It is a complete protein – meaning it has all nine essential acids that we need! It is also high in protein (2g per tablespoon) so is a great way for vegetarians and vegans to add high-quality protein to their diet.
It’s also is high in B vitamins, specifically vitamin B-12! Vitamin B-12 is needed for a variety of body functions, including red blood cell creation, DNA production, energy metabolism and healthy nervous system functionality. It’s naturally found in animal products, so vegans can become deficient if they aren’t supplementing (or eating nutritional yeast).
How to Make Nutritional Yeast Dressing
Making a homemade dressing with nutritional yeast is super easy! For this dressing, we’re simply adding the nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos, garlic and ground pepper to a blender and blending until smooth. Slowly add in the olive oil with the blender on low. If you don’t have a blender, you can mince your garlic really well and whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl!
More Homemade Dressings You’ll Enjoy
- Oil-Free Zesty Tahini Dressing
- Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
- Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
- Tomatillo Avocado Dressing
- Avocado Caesar Dressing
- Chili Almond Dressing
- Healthy Caesar Dressing
- Raspberry Vinaigrette
Be sure to check out my healthy salad dressings as well as my favorite healthy store-bought salad dressings.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Creamy Nutritional Yeast Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup coconut aminos, or low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 pinch sea salt
- ground pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil*
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients except olive oil into a blender. Blend until smooth and slowly add in the olive oil, with the blender on a low setting.
- I prefer making this dressing in a blender because it gets extra smooth and creamy, but if don’t have a blender you can easily make it by whisking all the ingredients together as well. Just make sure you mince your garlic really well.
Notes
- For an oil-free dressing you can use water in place of the oil. The dressing won’t be as creamy, but still delicious.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This Recipe? Rate & Comment Below!
Was looking for a recipe with these ingredients (except canola oil instead of olive oil) because of a dressing that has now been discontinued….so I made this with canola oil and the tamari option. Mine turned out a little thick (like mustard) but had a nice zing and tang. I’ll add water to get it to be more dressing than sauce. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Ah yay! I am excited to hear that you are enjoying this recipe, Alicks. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
I love nutritional yeast, and I’m always looking for a new salad dressing. This one’s delish. I was out of apple cider vinegar, so I used plain white vinegar, and added the tiniest pinch of sugar. So good. It’s salads all week! Thank you.
Woo!! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, EllenMarie! Thanks for making it and for leaving a review. I so appreciate it!
This dressing is a staple for me! I am always looking for ways to use this dressing because I want to eat it everyday! I like to use Bragg’s liquid aminos in place of coconut aminos. Thanks for this go-to!
So glad you like this recipe, Krystal! I appreciate you taking the time to leave me a comment and review!
Just made this and put it on a simple salad. Interestingly delish
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this salad dressing, Barbara. Thank you for trying it and leaving a review!
I plan on making this soon. How long will this last in the refrigerator?
Hi, Sherry! This dressing should keep in fresh in the refrigerator for up to a week in an airtight container. I usually keep my dressings in a mason jar or weck jar. I hope this helps!
I love this recipe! It has become our #1 go-to for salad dressing, et al. It is so tasty and SO versatile- so many ways to adapt and spice it up. I substituted the olive oil with aquafaba (canned chickpea water) and it turned out great with a nice creaminess.
Yay!! Happy to hear this dressing was a hit, Jenn. Thanks so much for making it and coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
When I was reading the ingredients I though “Nah. No way this is going to be good.” I was making the kale & cabbage salad, though, and this is the dressing it calls for, so I made it. I’m so glad I did, it’s delicious! I used 1.5 tsp. garlic powder because that’s the only kind of garlic I had. I left out the pepper because black pepper is inflammatory and that’s a no-no for me.
Woo! So glad this dressing was a hit, Jasmine! Thanks for the review 🙂
Question…I don’t usually keep garlic in the house because any foods from the alum family (onions, garlic, leeks) make me sick when I eat them. Could I sub out with garlic powder? Thanks!
It should be fine, but the flavor of the dressing might not be as strong.
This dressing is INCREDIBLE. I don’t even like nooch but I am in love with this dressing. Holy moly
Woo! That makes me so happy to hear, Margot. So pumped you love this dressing! Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
I only used 1/2 the coconut aminos and then added extra salt for flavor, I used tahini instead of the olive oil and I think the ACVinegar was too tart for meso I would use only 1/2 and added water for the other half of the quantity