Holy yum, batman. This recipe will have vegans and carnivores alike singing the praises of our favorite condiment, nutritional yeast. If you’ve not yet met our noochy friend, here’s the deal: nutritional yeast (affectionately nicknamed ‘nooch’ by bloggers!) is a vegan condiment that you can liken to Parmesan cheese. It’s a yellow flaky powder that you can sprinkle on grains, veggies, or pasta; you can also make dips or use in amazingly flavorful marinades. This Vegan Cheesy Rice makes the most of nooch’s inherently cheesy, umami flavor to create a comforting, yummy dish to serve alongside some steamed broccoli, with beans or tofu, and enjoy solo for an awesome little meal.
vegan cheesy rice
1 cup organic brown rice, soaked one hour or more (here are our tips for the best brown rice!)
1 1/2 cups water
pinch of salt
2 Teaspoons chopped, fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan butter
¼ cup nutritional yeast
- Bring water to a boil and add salt.
- Add rice, cover, and lower heat to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add thyme, earth balance, and nutritional yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes until thyme is thoroughly wilted and EB is melted.
- Share and Enjoy!
Serve with any legume dish, roasted vegetables, or with soup!
Is there anything you would suggest subbing for the Earth Balance? My boyfriend is weird about any processed ingredients so this recipe would be perfect if I could figure out something to sub in for that one!
Hi Blair- you could substitute coconut oil or olive oil for the earth balance for a less processed product. You could also use some coconut milk- these will give it a coconutty flavor, but I am a big fan of the coconut + nooch combination!
You had me at NOOCH!
And I second olive oil! I do a version of this sometimes with olive oil instead of EB, and usually with some steamed broccoli, because nooch and broccoli are best friends in my kitchen.