Nutritional Yeast Gravy

Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast sold as yellow flakes, and it carries a lot of the same savoury compounds as a good aged cheese. Toasting it in the fat with the flour rather than sprinkling it in at the end is what turns it from a health food ingredient into a proper flavour. This is a good gravy for chips, mash and vegan bangers.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml, four servings

• 40g (1 1/2oz) vegan block butter
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 3 tbsp (45g) plain flour
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tsp onion granules
• 600ml (1 pint) hot vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• black pepper

Kit

• Saucepan
• Whisk

Method

1. Melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion for six minutes until soft and just beginning to colour. Chop it small so it disappears into the finished gravy.

2. Add the flour and whisk it in. Cook the roux for two minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns a pale biscuit colour and smells toasty rather than raw.

3. Tip in the nutritional yeast and the onion granules and keep stirring for a further 90 seconds. The flakes will darken very slightly and the pan will start to smell like cheese on toast. That smell is the whole point of this recipe.

4. Pour in a third of the hot stock and whisk hard. It will go stiff and paste like at first, which is normal. Whisk until smooth before adding the next third, then the last.

5. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for six to eight minutes, whisking now and then, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and the floury taste has gone.

6. Stir in the soy sauce, mustard and cider vinegar. The mustard and vinegar sharpen it up so the yeast flavour does not sit heavy on the tongue.

7. Taste and season with black pepper and a little salt if needed. Serve hot, and thin with a splash of stock if it has thickened past the point you want.

Tips worth knowing

• Do not let the yeast flakes catch. They burn quickly and go acrid, so keep the pan moving during that 90 seconds.
• Nutritional yeast is not the same as brewer's yeast or baking yeast and they cannot be swapped.
• The vinegar at the end is not optional. Without acid this gravy tastes flat and slightly powdery.
• If you want it smoother still, blitz it briefly with a stick blender before serving.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge and freezes for two months. Reheat over a low heat, whisking, and add water a spoon at a time as it loosens.

Questions people ask