Nooch Popcorn

Nutritional Yeast is the best topping for anything. If you haven’t had it before, just imagine a cross between bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and ground nuts. I’m not sure my description is doing this stuff justice, but Nutritional Yeast, or Nooch is so amazing and I can’t believe that it took me going Vegan to find this stuff, because I honestly believe it should be everywhere. Perhaps have a keychain with a little bottle of Nooch on it for the emergency times you need a little bit of flavor. Every restaurant should have this sitting on their table. Like Siracha is to a Vietnamese Pho Restaurant, Nooch is that to every other restaurant…Mandatory.

Nooch popocorn has been around for generations. My friend from Sebastopol tells me stories of how, because their Vegan community is so large, Nooch popcorn was often a childhood favorite snack. I’m like, “What?” my parents never gave me this to put on my popcorn! WTF was I missing out on all these years?

To do this popcorn justice, you have to freshly pop your popcorn at home. That means, none of this microwaveable bullshit.  You can easily do this by heating up some coconut oil in a pot and just when it starts to smoke, add in your popcorn kernels and cover, shaking it up every 30 seconds. You’ll need the following ingredients to complete this dish – Nooch, Coconut Oil, Truffle Salt, Shichimi Pepper and Vegan butter. That’s it!

Popping corn at home is also super convenient, because you can just make a batch and put it in a ziplock if you can’t finish it…and yes, if I go to the movie theaters I’m seriously bringing my own popcorn there, because why eat anything else that’s 2nd tiered. I want that top-shelf popcorn!

Now, once you hear the popcorn popping in the pot, just take note of when it  starts to slow down. Be sure to vigorously shake so the kernels do not burn. Kill the heat when you hear less popping and just let it sit for another 20-30 seconds with the lid on, to make sure every kernel is popped. Easy! We’ll then grab some butter, heat for 20 seconds in the microwave and begin to coat the first layer of popcorn.

Adding a drizzle of butter and a tbsp of nooch to start is good. You’ll also want to throw down a sprinkle of truffle salt and japanese pepper here. Then repeat the process with the remaining popcorn. Since we used 1/2 cup of popcorn, this should be plenty to fill up a large bowl for two people. The cheesy, addictive flavors of nooch, coupled with the truffle salt will keep you satisfied throughout the movie. Doubtful you’ll make it past the 10 minute mark, but hey, that’s with any type of popcorn I guess. Hope you enjoy this recipe! How do you make your popcorn at home?

Nooch Popcorn

Nutritional Yeast should be celebrated with a national holiday. Adding it to popcorn is just skimming the surface of its versatility but it's super addicting and should always be used on Popcorn!

Course Snacks

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Cook Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp truffle salt
• 1/4 tsp Japanese Shichimi pepper
• 2 tbsp Vegan butter

Instructions

1. Heat pot over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Just before coconut oil begins to smoke, add in 1/2 cup of popcorn and shake around to make sure that every kernel is coated in oil. Cover pot and shake every 30 seconds.
2. When popping begins to slow down, turn off heat and let sit for 20-30 seconds with lid on.
3. Pour out half of the popcorn into a bowl and evenly drizzle 1 tbsp Vegan butter. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of nooch, 1/8 tsp of truffle salt, and 1/8 tsp of Shichimi pepper and give a quick air toss to make sure everything gets coated. Repeat process with remaining popcorn for layer two!