What does Marmite taste like?
Marmite has a very distinctive flavor. The taste is so unique as to defy description, but think of a yeasty, salty, soy sauce-esque flavor with the consistency of old engine oil. Some people really like eating it, and some people don't like eating it at all.
It's no coincidence that Marmite tastes beefy, even though it is made entirely of vegetable matter. It owes its invention to a German scientist who formulated a way to manufacture beef extracts, which led to the development of the Oxo brand of beef court bouillon cube.
Marmite Incorporated in America called it Vegex (America always had this habit of using different names for UK items). They brought out cubes as well as the spread. Marmite has since pulled out of America by 1920 but Vegex still lives but whether loyal to the original recipe it's hard to say.
Marmite is a savoury spread, which was originally invented by German scientist Justus von Liebig in 1902. The scientist invented it in the UK when he discovered that brewers' leftover yeast could be concentrated, bottled and eaten.
It has a very strong taste but in terms of British foods, Marmite is something no other country seems to like. Australia has its own version called Vegemite which is very similar in flavour. In America Marmite is very hard to buy and most people have never even heard of it.
Marmite can be purchased in the United States in many quality grocery stores and can also be purchased at Cost Plus World Imports.
Marmite is commonly used as a flavouring, as it is particularly rich in umami due to its very high levels of glutamate (1960 mg/100 g).
We learnt late last year that Pioneer Foods, the manufacturers of Marmite, had decided to discontinue supply because of the decline in demand for fish paste.
The classic use for Marmite is to spread it thinly on a piece of toast with a layer of either butter or margarine. Or serve it with cheese in sandwiches, cheesy toasts, or on crackers.
"Toast a slice of freshly baked white bread until golden brown," they say. "Apply a tasty covering of real butter (about 10g), allowing it to melt while the toast is still hot. Top your creation with about four grams of Marmite, from the tip of a knife and eat immediately, while still warm."
Why do British people like Marmite?
Marmite's powerful, distinctively savoury flavour makes it an acquired taste. Many Brits have strong opinions about whether it is delicious or disgusting, to the point where it's used as a metaphor.
The British Marmite
Marmite was invented in the late 1800s by a German scientist named Justus von Liebig when he discovered that leftover brewers' yeast could be concentrated and eaten. Marmite is so beloved that statistics say that 25 percent of Britons take Marmite with them when traveling out of the country.

Yes – Marmite™ is quite high in salt. Salt is a critical ingredient in making Marmite™ a long lasting food that does not require refrigeration.
A liberal spread of Marmite, which contains 1,750mg of MSG per 100g (more than almost any other food product), will set you up for a day of nutritional resolve.
What does Marmite taste like? It tastes, well, yeasty. Think: Salty and strong, sort of like a soy sauce paste. It's so strong, in fact, that its own marketing campaign centers around the slogan “you either love it or hate it.” Safe to say that it's an acquired taste.
Potential Risks of Marmite
The biggest concern would likely come from its high sodium content. Just five grams of marmite is approximately 7% of a person's recommended daily dose of sodium, which means that eating too much Marmite may lead to hypernatremia, or sodium poisoning.
Launched in the UK in 1902, Marmite is a savoury food spread created as a by-product of brewer's yeast, a substance involved in the production of alcohol. It was discovered as an edible entity in its own right by German scientist Justus Von Liebig.
Both marmite and vegemite are used as a spread for toast, sandwiches and crackers, but have different culinary applications too. Marmite is also used in packaged snacks, such as a filling for savory crackers (which are biscuits in the U.K.) or as a savory topping with cheese for flatbreads.
One of the most common spots to find Marmite in at the grocery store is the condiment aisle. Look near items like jams, preserves and peanut butter. The baking aisle is another good place to check. You may need to search around on the shelves, but it could be in a specialty ingredient section of the aisle.
Of course, some of the aromas identified by Webster won't surprise lovers of the classic spread. These include sulfurol and niacinamide. Sulfurol is described as having a meaty, brothy smell – something that will be familiar to anyone who has ever tried the spread.
What is the main ingredient in Marmite?
Marmite's major ingredient is an extract from brewer's yeast arising from beer-making. Malted barley, wheat, and rye are typically used to make many beers and they contain gluten. Despite thorough washing, the collected yeast may still contain low levels of gluten which may carry through to the final product.
Marmite™ – more to it than simply great taste!
It's low in fat, completely vegetarian, contains only 0.6g of sugar per 5g serve and contains five essential B vitamins.
The expert added: “Your body can crave foods that are high in iron such as marmite, twiglets, milk, salmon, egg yolks, tuna, chicken and other meats. “These are all good sources of vitamin B12, so if your body is craving them, listen to it.”
In a recent study, hungry scientists at the University of Bristol found that, when eaten three times a week, Marmite can enhance heart function in healthy adults and help prevent cardiovascular disease, thanks to it's high levels of the artery-sparing antioxidant benfotiamine.
“Due to lockdown over the last two years, our two key suppliers of yeast in South Africa, the AB-Inbev and Heineken Breweries, were not permitted to operate. As yeast is a live product, we are unable to stockpile it and hence the production unit had to stop functioning during each of those times.
Vegemite is a little bit more compact and isn't as spreadible as Marmite is. But most important of course; the flavour. Both products have an unique taste and the differences are minor. Marmite tends to have a little bit more of a salty and bitter flavour to it.
Compared to Marmite, Vegemite is thicker like peanut butter, darker, and slightly more bitter, its initially off-putting taste requiring it be spread only thinly. There are also slight differences in the various vitamins and other ingredients they contain.
Spread over 3 slices of bread, then top each with a layer of cucumber. Spread the remaining bread with butter and a thin coating of Marmite. Sandwich the Marmite slices with the soft cheese slices, then cut off the crusts.
Eating Marmite 'more important than reducing salt' to lower blood pressure, ZOE Health Study finds. Eating potassium-rich foods such as Marmite is “more important” in lowering blood pressure than cutting out salt, a new study suggests.
As Shona Wilkinson explains, “Marmite is also high in folic acid, providing nearly 50% of the recommended daily allowance per serving. Folic acid works to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, increase the chance of conception and prevent birth defects.”
Can you mix Marmite with peanut butter?
Mix the banana and Marmite & Peanut butter until softened and place in blender. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
The more it bubbles, the more light is scattered in different directions than it is absorbed into the marmite. The brown colouring of the marmite is unable to absorb the light, so it turns white.
It's Packed With Vitamins
They work to boost kidney and liver function, help to protect the nervous system and increase energy levels.
It helps you sleep
Marmite contains magnesium, which scientists recently showed can help us sleep. The mineral relaxes muscles and calms nerves, which makes falling asleep easier. A heaped teaspoon of Marmite gives you 10 per cent of your recommended daily allowance (RDI) of magnesium.
Marmite is rich in B vitamins and has no added sugar. So, compared to some breakfast spreads like jam (or dare we say, Nutella) it is good for you. There are only 22 calories per serving in Marmite, so it's definitely a low calorie spread option for toast.
Marmite provides a hefty dose of niacin (vitamin B3), which has the ability to make new immune cells and increases our immune system's ability to kill different strains of infectious bacteria by a factor of 1,000.
A new study has found that a vitamin in Marmite could be able to help prevent heart diseases and be a potential new treatment for diabetes . The research also revealed that a derivative of vitamin B1, benfotiamine, may speed up the healing of tissue after heart damage .
Meaning of Marmite in English
something or someone that some people like very much and other people dislike very strongly: He is something of a Marmite presenter - you either love him or you can't bear him.
YEAST extract spreads such as Marmite contain vitamin B3 (also called niacin), which it is believed boosts good cholesterol levels by up to 30 per cent.
Marmite is essentially a yeast extract, created with the remains of yeast used to brew beer. Along with a yeasty paste, a jar of Marmite also contains salt, added vitamins, and a few additional seasonings. The spread is salty, rich, and packed with glutamate, giving it an unmistakable umami flavor.
Why is Marmite not made anymore?
During previous lockdown levels, when alcohol was banned, the essential Marmite ingredient – brewer's yeast, a by-product of beer manufacturing – was unavailable, causing a shortage of the spread. Sourcing enough to meet the demand remains a challenge, exacerbated by the shortage of another raw material: soda ash.
They say you either love it or hate it – and it's fair to say that Denmark really, really despises Marmite. It's all down to the fact that the yeast extract is at odds with a 2004 law which restricts food products that are fortified with vitamins.
How Is Marmite Used? The classic use for Marmite is to spread it thinly on a piece of toast with a layer of either butter or margarine. Or serve it with cheese in sandwiches, cheesy toasts, or on crackers.
You might as well call carbon a naturally occurring substance in petrol. MSG is what makes Marmite work, of course. It's a simple substance, a salt of glutamic acid which is present in many foodstuffs including mothers' milk.
Autolyzed yeast extract adds a rich umami taste to foods. The taste is similar to soy sauce or Kitchen Bouquet, but much more powerful.
- 1 – Vegemite.
- 2 – Promite.
- 3 – Bovril.
- 4 – Miso.
- 5 – Nutritional Yeast.
Launched in the UK in 1902, Marmite is a savoury food spread created as a by-product of brewer's yeast, a substance involved in the production of alcohol. It was discovered as an edible entity in its own right by German scientist Justus Von Liebig.
Jars of Marmite started to reappear on retailers' shelves in early May 2022, much to the delight of desperate shoppers who took to social media to confirm the savoury spread's return.