Ramen Noodle Salad

4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ramen Noodle Salad with chicken, green onions, carrots, toasted almonds, in a quick, easy vinaigrette is a healthy, easy, lunch option served cold or warm.

Ramen Noodle Salad made from Ramen Noodles

My Ramen Noodles “Aha Moment”

For many years, I avoided ramen noodles and even made recipes to avoid using them like in this ramen makeover from an old Martha Stewart recipe. I couldn’t get the flavor packet full of MSG flavors out of my head anytime I ate ramen noodles.

Then, one day at Whole Foods I tried a cold ramen noodles salad from the prepared foods section. It was delicious and made even more so because I took the bowl to the salad section and added cold chicken, toasted almonds, and tomatoes. (I know, not quite ramen-y but what are you going to do, I’m a sucker for tomatoes.)

Since then, we ALWAYS have ramen noodles in our pantry. We never use the spice packets, but we love the noodles. In fact, we also use the microwavable “Yakisoba” chow mein noodles for this Panda Express Chow Mein which is really popular on this site and on Google!

Ramen Noodle Salad with chicken and almonds

How to Make Ramen Noodle Salad:

Toss the seasoning packed, but put your ramen noodles to good use with this easy and delicious ramen noodle salad:

  1. Cook the ramen noodles a minute shy of the directions on the package and immediately toss with the sesame vinaigrette.
  2. Add in the chicken, onions, carrots and toasted almond.
  3. Then add in the last bit of the rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing.
  4. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Tossing the noodles in the dressing while warm and slightly undercooked allows it to soak up more of the dressing. Win-win, flavorful noodles!

What to serve with Ramen Noodle Salad:

Since this ramen salad is best served cold or at room temperature, it is perfect for lunches. You can serve with vegetable potstickers (we are suckers for this one from Trader Joe’s), steamed vegetables like broccoli and carrots and even a small side of peanut satay sauce or spicy soy dipping sauce.

If you’d like to serve the ramen noodle salad warm, add freshly cooked steak or shrimp to the dish.

Use Ramen Noodles for Ramen Noodle Salad

Ramen Noodle Salad RECIPE ADjustments

  • Healthy: Add in 2 spiralized zucchinis to the ramen. Add less canola oil to the dressing.
  • Spicy: Add 1 teaspoon Sriracha to the dressing.
  • Vegetarian: Add in stir-fried bok choy, snow peas and even Chinese eggplant to the noodle salad.
  • Crunchy: Instead of cooking the ramen, add it in crunchy and toss with twice the dressing and a bag of shredded coleslaw.

Ramen Salad with Chicken and almonds on plate

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Ramen Noodle Salad

Ramen Noodle Salad with chicken, green onions, carrots, toasted almonds, in a quick, easy vinaigrette is a healthy, easy, lunch option served cold or warm.
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese-American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 4 packages instant ramen
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 cups grilled chicken strips
  • 1 bunch scallions , finely sliced (greens only)
  • 1 bag coleslaw mix , with carrots and red cabbage
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds , toasted

Instructions

  • Discard the spice packets and cook the ramen a minute shy of the instructions.
  • While the ramen is cooking mix the canola oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt, honey in a large bowl and whisk.
  • Reserve ¼ cup of the dressing and toss the noodles with the rest of the dressing while hot.
  • Add in the remaining ingredients including the reserved dressing and toss well.
  • Serve cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 814kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 2075mg | Potassium: 527mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Vitamin C: 42.8mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 4.5mg
Ramen Noodle Salad on plate with limes
Ramen Noodle Salad

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I love this recipe. I added tangerines and a tablespoon of soy sauce to the dressing. I can’t get enough.

  2. This is the weirdest recipe ever! Perhaps I used too much dressing but I’ve made this twice, using only 2 packs of ramen and an entire bag of coleslaw. An hour later, when I looked in the refrigerator, the coleslaw had pretty much disappeared. I’ve no idea if the vinegar disliked it or what. It was still very good though.

    1. I’m glad you still enjoyed it. Did you happen to use finely shredded cole slaw? I mean, the coleslaw will wilt while in the fridge so maybe use a thicker cut next time to hold up more to your liking. Hope this helps.

  3. This is a great recipe!  To make it a little healthier, I used two ramen packs, two spiralized zucchini noodles, and used a little more than a 1/4 c of oil.  

  4. I see the recipe calls to discard the seasoning packet. We used the seasoning packet in the dressing , it was delicious!

  5. First, I want to say I was surprised to find out that this recipe actually used ramen noodles found on those ramen packets, Sabrina. It got me even more curious so I decided to give it a try. I did cook the noodles for around 2 minutes because I want mine more al dente; and I lessened the oil according to taste since that is just my personal preference. Thankfully, it did not alter the taste at all; and my ramen noodle salad tasted delish!

  6. OMG……yum, yum, yum!! I’ve been looking for a good Asian salad dressing for a long time. This dressing is AMAZING and DELICIOUS. I cut the canola oil and 1/2 because of calories. Most dressings with oil in them have a tendency to be too oily. This is perfect using 1/4 cup of canola oil instead of 1/2 cup. The flavors blend so well together. The next time I make it I will double the re Ile and add some freshly grated ginger root to see if that will make it a ginger sesame dressing. I’m so glad I signed up for your email recipes. I can’t wait to try your chicken lo mein recipe next. Thank you Sabrina for sharing these recipes. Looking forward for more to come.

  7. This will be an excellent addition to any potluck! That dressing looks delish!