Ramen Noodle Salad

When grilling, I’m always looking for easy and delicious side dish recipes. This crunchy and flavorful ramen noodle salad checks all the boxes.

What Makes This Recipe Work

• This salad is crunchy and flavorful. It’s quick and easy, takes about 15 minutes, not counting chill time, and travels well.
• Raw ramen goes soggy fast, but toasted noodles hold up for hours in the fridge.
• Using the seasoning packet that comes with the ramen noodles in the dressing adds some umph.
• Cabbage has a wonderful crunch. Using coleslaw mix takes the work out of shredding cabbage and it’s less delicate than lettuce.
• Toasting the ramen noodles in the oven makes them crispy and ensures that they won’t get soggy sitting in the dressing.
• Chilling the salad for 30 minutes mellows out the bite of the cabbage and blends all of the flavors together. The cabbage stays crunchy and doesn’t get mushy like lettuce, making this a great potluck dish.

What to Know Before You Start

• Prep time is 15 minutes, not counting chill time. Chill time is 30 minutes to a few hours in the refrigerator.
• Make sure ramen noodles, almonds and sunflower seeds cool before mixing into salad otherwise cabbage will wilt.
• Keep a close eye on ramen noodles during the last few minutes of cooking, especially if using sliced almonds which can burn easily.
• Shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix) will keep its crunch unlike shredded lettuce which wilts sitting in the salad dressing.
• You can make this salad a few hours ahead of time. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• Cider vinegar (3 tablespoons)
• Sugar (¼ cup)
• One bag shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix)
• One small individual package of oriental-flavor ramen noodles, not the giant brick of noodles (3 oz)
• Seasoning packet from ramen noodles
• Sliced almonds (1.5 oz bag)
• Sunflower seeds, either salted or unsalted will work fine (2 tablespoons)
• oil

How to Make Ramen Noodle Salad

• Heat oven to 300°F. Spread ramen noodles and almonds and seeds on sheet pan and toast for approximately 5 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Transfer noodles and almonds to a large bowl and allow to cool. Meanwhile, make the salad dressing: In a small bowl add vegetable oil, cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and the contents of the ramen seasoning packet.

Whisk to combine and dissolve sugar. Taste and add more salt as needed (the seasoning packet does have salt in it so go easy!).

Once the noodle and almond mixture has cooled add cabbage and sunflower seeds to a large mixing bowl. Add the prepared salad dressing and toss to coat.

Chill the ramen noodle coleslaw in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld. Serve chilled.

For the oil in the dressing: You can use canola, avocado, or light-flavored olive oil for this recipe. Extra-virgin olive oil would be too assertive of a flavor.

For the cider vinegar: You could use white wine vinegar. Rice vinegar would be less assertive in terms of the tanginess.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The ramen noodle coleslaw can be made ahead. Toasted ramen and almond mixture can be made one day ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Dressing can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Dressing will separate so give it a good whisk before using.

How long ahead of time should I dress the ramen noodle slaw?

For best results I’d say anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours ahead of time. The longer the salad sits the more the noodles soften.

That said, at parties, etc. it’s helpful to have things ready to go. An hour would be my suggestion.

How long will the dressed salad keep?

Dressed coleslaw can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 days. Again, the noodles will soften but they are still yummy.

You’ll just get a different texture of coleslaw with your leftovers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use frozen shredded cabbage?

Absolutely. Frozen shredded cabbage will be softer than fresh but will work perfectly in this recipe.

Can I use ramen noodle seasoning from the noodle packages I’m using?

Yes, that’s exactly what I did. However, you can find ramen noodle seasoning packets at Asian markets.

What other nuts can be used?

Other nuts would be delicious in place of the almonds!

Do I cook the ramen noodles first?

No, we’re going to use them crunchy. Boiled ramen would turn soft and get mushy in this salad.

What protein can I add to make this a meal?

For an Asian-inspired salad that can stand on its own, I’d recommend adding some thinly sliced, grilled chicken or a bag of shredded rotisserie chicken and use an Asian-style salad dressing. Thawed frozen edamame is a good vegetarian option.

Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Can I substitute a different vinegar?

You can use another type of vinegar if you’d like. Rice vinegar would have a similar effect in terms of taste though actually a bit sweeter and smoother, white wine vinegar would be more acidic, just like cider vinegar, and white vinegar is a little sharper so I’d only use 2 Tbsp with this option.

What do you serve ramen noodle salad with?

This is a great cookout salad. It holds up well outside since it doesn’t get as limp as green salads, takes hardly any time to make, and goes great with any sort of grilled meats.

It’s the perfect addition to burgers, chicken, pork chops, brats, etc.

More Easy Side Salads

Looking for more salad recipes for your next get-together? Here are a few more you should check out:

• Classic Macaroni Salad: a recipe for macaroni salad with all of your favorite ingredients. Perfect for cookouts, potlucks and more.
• Deviled Egg Pasta Salad: this easy pasta salad is full of the same flavors you find in a classic deviled egg recipe.
• Corn and Black Bean Salsa with Avocado: fresh and delicious. Make it as a side salad or use it for dipping with chips.
• Broccoli Salad: a super-easy creamy and crunchy salad that’s perfect for potlucks.