Homemade Vegemite
You can find the black food spread known as Vegemite in almost every Australian’s pantry, but I want to introduce you to homemade Vegemite; a wholesome alternative that tastes even better!
While Vegemite is often perceived as healthy, looking at the ingredients list you can already see a couple of red flags. These appear in the form of numbers and the dreaded word ‘flavours’. Unfortunately due to food labelling rules, the ingredient ‘flavours’ can actually be a mask for a number of ingredients or chemicals, which we are better off without consuming. Here, it is suspected that the highly addictive food additive and flavour enhancer MSG (monosodium glutamate) makes an appearance. While this can’t be confirmed, I’m not really interested in risking it and would prefer to go for a wholefoods approach regardless.
This real food version of the commercial spread gives you far more benefits than the store bought version, let me tell you why…
Tahini is one of the highest plant based sources of calcium. As calcium is vital for our bone health, we want to make sure we’re including it where we can into our diets.
Nutritional yeast is an inactive form of yeast that is full of B vitamins. Vegemite is known to be high in B vitamins, but from the ingredients list these can be seen to come from synthetic sources. Why not get it from this natural form and experience the same benefits? B vitamins play an important role in our energy production and who doesn’t want more energy?
As a fermented food, miso paste is great for the health of our gut. Not to mention this salty goodness makes everything taste amazing.
If the facts aren’t enough to convert you, I’m sure the taste will be just what you need. Try it at home yourself with this simple homemade Vegemite recipe:
Homemade Vegemite
Vegan | Gluten Free | Sugar Free
Ingredients
3/4 cup black tahini
2 tbsp red miso paste
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp tamari
Method
Combine all ingredients in a jar and stir well.
I’d recommend adding 2 tablespoons of water to the mix if this spread is too thick for your liking. Please note that the water can seperate out as it sits there but that is nothing that can’t be fixed by giving it a stir before using it.
This Homemade Miso can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks… if you don’t finish it first.
Serving ideas:
Serve on sourdough bread alone or with the king of toast toppers: avocado
Make a sourdough cheese and ‘Vegemite’ toastie
Experiment with ‘Vegemite’ scrolls
Regardless of whether you’re a Vegemite addict or can’t stand the stuff, you have to give this a try as I’ve had people from both categories give it a massive thumbs up.
Once you’ve tried it, tag me in a picture @projectnourish and tell me what you think. Enjoy.