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Looking for an easy pantry meal? Try miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast – made with five ingredients and ready to eat in just 20 minutes.
2020 is the year I started making more pantry meals
I don’t even know if I can really even talk about the year 2020 without feeling scarred or triggered in some way. I mean, we’re still in the middle of this thing and while the end is in sight, we still have a while to go before things are back to the way they were.
And with that, enters pantry meals. We’ve severely limited our grocery runs over the past year to every two and a half weeks. At the beginning, we eat all of the produce – tons of salads, veggie sandwiches, and other veggie-forward dishes. But towards the end, we stick to pantry staple meals. This method makes it really easy to ensure we don’t waste food either.
These miso butter noodles are so delicious and perfect for a night where you don’t really feel like putting a lot of effort into dinner. It’s not quite mac and cheese and it’s not quite buttered noodles. They’re somewhere in the middle. Either way, if you’re a miso fan, you’re going to love miso butter noodles.
Miso butter is my jam
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been obsessed with miso butter lately. From posting my own vegan-friendly miso butter recipe to these miso butter mashed rutabagas, you’ll find some of my favorite ways to use this delicious condiment.
If you’ve never had miso butter before, it tastes exactly how you would expect, creamy, fatty, misoy and yummy. I love spreading it on toast, potatoes, and more. It’s just a more fun and flavorful way to enjoy things you would normally put butter or olive oil on.
And of course, we’re not talking about real butter. I make my miso butter with Earth Balance buttery sticks. You can use whatever kind of vegan-friendly butter you’d like but I would avoid the ones with olive oil since that flavor wouldn’t really mesh that well with the miso.
So naturally, I’ve just been on this giant miso butter kick. We were at the end of our grocery run, and I thought, “Why not make a pantry meal out of miso butter?” Enter: miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast.
What ingredients do I need to make miso butter noodles?
Pasta: For this recipe, you will need one pound of pasta. I recommend going all out with this recipe if your diet allows. Get the actual wheat-filled pasta. Don’t go for the lentil stuff or the black bean stuff. Get the wheat. If you happen to have an allergy to wheat, I think Banza pasta would be the next best thing. Any shape will do. I used my favorite, cavatappi.
Miso: For this recipe, I used white miso. You can probably use red or yellow if you can’t find white. Just know that the flavor profile will change slightly depending on the color of miso you use. I use the Cold Mountain brand which is sold at most Sprouts locations.
Vegan Butter: Miso butter noodles can’t be a thing without butter! For this recipe, I used standard Earth Balance buttery sticks. They’re really easy to find and last for forever in the refrigerator. They’re great for baking, cooking, and are just a super versatile product.
Nutritional Yeast: If you’ve ever made vegan buttered noodles before, you know it’s best to add some nooch. Nutritional yeast brings a nutty and cheesy flavor to the miso butter sauce which compliments the umami flavor of the white miso.
Scallions: These are optional but if you happen to have them around (or maybe some sesame seeds or seaweed flakes) slice them up to garnish your miso butter noodles.
Salt and pepper: For this recipe, you’ll need salt for salting your pasta water. This is super important as it adds a nice flavor to your noodles all the way through. I also ended up peppering my noodles just before serving for an extra kick though that is definitely optional.
How to make miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast
To make miso butter noodles, you will need a large pot for cooking the noodles, a strainer to drain them, and a wooden spoon to stir the miso butter sauce into the noodles. You will also need a small saucepan to make the miso butter sauce and a whisk. Lastly, you’ll need a knife and a cutting board to chop the scallions, and a measuring cup and spoons.
Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Add two teaspoons of salt and a pound of noodles. Stir the noodles occasionally to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot and cook until the noodles are al denté. Before draining the noodles, dunk a measuring cup into the pot and reserve one cup of pasta water. Then, drain the noodles and set them aside.
In your small pot, add the cup of pasta water along with the miso and vegan butter. Use a whisk to break apart the miso and butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Bring the mixture to a low simmer for two minutes, then add the nutritional yeast and simmer for an additional three minutes.
Pour the miso butter sauce into the noodles and stir to combine. Serve the miso butter noodles with optional chopped scallions and fresh cracked pepper.
Substitution ideas and more
Miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast is honestly a springboard into more complex and delicious recipes. Here are some ideas I have for substitutions and elevating the dish.
Sub Banza: If you are gluten intolerant, consider substituting the pasta for Banza pasta. Keep in mind that Banza is sold in half-pound boxes so you will either need to buy two or cut the sauce recipe in half.
Sesame it up: Add a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil to the sauce as well as a sprinkle or two of sesame seeds as garnish.
Make it spicy: Add fresh chopped serrano peppers on top or add some crushed birds eye chili to the sauce to make it spicy
Add veggies: Add some sautéed mushrooms, onion, kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts and more to make this a non-pantry spectacular.
Use a different garnish: If you don’t have any scallions on hand, no worries! You can use sesame seeds, dried seaweed, crushed cashews, parsley, whatever you’d like and whatever you have on hand. This is a pantry recipe after all!
Want more recipes?
If you loved these miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast, you might like some of my other oil-free recipes. Check out these below.
- Miso butter mashed rutabagas
- Cauliflower leek soup
- Asparagus with tofu ricotta
- Tahini cauliflower
- Cashew mac and cheese
- Sweet potato quinoa bowls
Recipe jam
In this segment, I suggest a song for you to listen to while you make miso butter noodles with nutritional yeast! You can even stream it right here in your browser. Today’s recipe jam is It’s a Holiday by Nona Hendryx & Material.
If you try this recipe, I want to hear about it! Feel free to post your creations to Instagram or Facebook and tag Hell Yes It’s Vegan or #hellyesitsvegan. I look forward to seeing what you make!
Miso Butter Noodles with Nutritional Yeast
Equipment
- Large pot
- strainer
- wooden spoon
- measuring cup and spoons
- saucepan
- small whisk
- knife
- cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 lb cavatappi noodles, (or other pasta of your choice)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 6 Tbsp vegan butter, (I used Earth Balance buttery sticks)
- 3 Tbsp white miso
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 scallions, (optional)
- fresh cracked pepper, (optional)
Instructions
- Add salt to pot of boiling water and cook pasta until al denté. Before straining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Then, strain and set aside.
- In a saucepan, add reserved pasta water, vegan butter, and miso. Whisk until combined, then bring to a low simmer for 2 minutes. Add the nutritional yeast, and whisk to combine. Continue simmering for another 3 minutes.
- Add the miso butter sauce to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve with scallions and fresh cracked pepper.