This ramen noodle salad recipe is crammed with crunchy ramen noodles, colourful veggies, and a tangy dressing. It is a scrumptious cookout facet dish!

Who else grew up consuming ramen noodle salad at potlucks and cookouts? This recipe is my up to date tackle the nostalgic summer season facet dish. It stars crisp veggies, juicy orange segments, a candy and tangy French dressing, and the most effective half: a crunchy mixture of toasted ramen noodles, nuts, and sesame seeds.
I’ve made this ramen noodle salad recipe for just a few BBQs already this summer season, and it’s all the time been the primary facet dish to vanish. I hope you attempt it for a gathering quickly—I promise it’ll be successful!
Why You’ll Love This Ramen Noodle Salad Recipe
- It has three sorts of crunch. I like the mixture of the crunchy cabbage and carrots with the fragile toasted ramen noodles and the heartier nuts and seeds. It makes this salad so enjoyable to eat!
- It’s full of taste, due to a home made sesame orange dressing (no seasoning packet right here). Inexperienced onions and cilantro add scrumptious contemporary taste too.
- You can also make it forward. This can be a nice recipe to make forward for cookouts. You may toss collectively the colourful base as much as a day upfront. Simply wait so as to add the ramen noodles till the final minute!

Ramen Noodle Salad Components
Right here’s what you’ll must make this ramen noodle salad recipe:
- On the spot ramen noodles, after all! In grocery shops, you’ll discover two sorts of on the spot ramen: air-dried and fried. For this recipe, you’ll want the fried ones. They’ve a scrumptious cracker-like crunch vs the onerous texture of dried pasta. If the packages aren’t clearly labeled, take a look at the components. If the noodles are fried, oil might be certainly one of them.
- Nuts and seeds – Blanched slivered almonds, peanuts or sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds toast together with the ramen within the oven, giving this salad a ton of nutty crunch. I season them with garlic powder and sea salt to make the toasty flavors pop.
- Shredded cabbage and carrots – These crisp veggies make up the bottom of the salad. I like to make use of a mixture of napa cabbage and purple cabbage for shade.
- Mandarin orange segments – Their juicy texture balances all of the crunchy components on this salad.
- Inexperienced onions and cilantro – For contemporary taste.
- A candy and tangy French dressing – This salad’s Asian-inspired dressing is a straightforward mixture of rice vinegar, impartial oil, toasted sesame oil, contemporary orange juice, tamari, sugar, and contemporary ginger. I like its candy, savory, and tangy taste!
Discover the entire recipe with measurements beneath.
Recipe Variations
- Change up the veggies. Use thinly sliced purple bell pepper as an alternative of the carrots. Use only one sort of cabbage as an alternative of two, or exchange the napa cabbage with common inexperienced cabbage.
- Use store-bought coleslaw combine for a shortcut as an alternative of shredding the veggies your self. You’ll want 9 cups to interchange the cabbage and carrots.
- Make it gluten-free. Omit the noodles and improve the almond and peanut measurements to 1/2 cup. Use licensed gluten-free tamari within the dressing.

The way to Make Ramen Noodle Salad
Step one on this ramen noodle salad recipe is making the toasted nut and noodle combination. This step makes the noodles extra-crispy and provides them a pleasant toasty taste. It brings out the wealthy taste of the nuts and seeds too.
Simply break the noodles into items, toss with the nuts and seeds, and season with oil, garlic powder, and salt. Unfold in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F till aromatic, about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, make the dressing. Place the dressing components in a small bowl or lidded jar. Whisk or shake to mix.
Lastly, assemble the salad. Toss the cabbage, carrots, mandarins, inexperienced onions, and cilantro with many of the dressing. Add half the ramen combination and toss once more, including extra dressing as desired. Lastly, high with the remaining ramen and serve.
Make-Forward and Storage Ideas
To make forward: Totally assemble the salad with out the ramen combination as much as 1 day forward. Cowl and retailer within the fridge. Retailer the ramen combination individually at room temperature. While you’re able to serve the salad, add the ramen and toasted nuts and season to style.
To retailer: Retailer leftover salad in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Be aware that the noodles soften as they sit within the dressing, so the salad has the most effective texture proper after it’s made.

Extra Salad Recipes to Strive
If you happen to love this ramen noodle salad, attempt certainly one of these scrumptious salad recipes subsequent:

Ramen Noodle Salad
Serves 6
This ramen noodle salad recipe is a crowd-pleasing potluck or cookout facet dish! It is crammed with crunchy ramen noodles, toasted nuts, cabbage, and carrots. A candy and tangy dressing ties it collectively.
- 1 (2.25-ounce) package deal on the spot ramen noodles, damaged into items, seasoning packet reserved for one more use*
- ⅓ cup blanched slivered almonds
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds or peanuts
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- Impartial oil, for drizzling
- Garlic powder
- Sea salt
- 6 cups shredded napa cabbage
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots, about 1 medium
- 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
- ½ cup chopped inexperienced onions, about 3
- ½ cup chopped contemporary cilantro
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Place the ramen, almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds on the baking sheet. Drizzle frivolously with oil and sprinkle with pinches of garlic powder and salt. Toss to coat and unfold evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to fifteen minutes, or till aromatic and toasted.
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In the meantime, make the dressing: In a small bowl or lidded jar, mix the rice vinegar, impartial oil, sesame oil, tamari, orange juice, sugar, and ginger. Whisk till nicely mixed, or if utilizing a jar, cowl and shake to mix.
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Place the napa and purple cabbages, carrots, mandarins, inexperienced onions, and cilantro in a big bowl. Drizzle with many of the dressing and toss to coat. Add half the ramen combination and toss once more. Season to style, including extra dressing as desired. High with the remaining ramen combination and serve.
*Finest noodles to make use of: This salad works greatest with noodles which are fried, NOT air-dried.
