Ramen Noodle Salad is loaded with texture and flavor, and it’s SO easy to make! My recipe takes just 10 minutes to prep and is the perfect easy side dish for your next potluck or cookout.
Quick & Easy Side Dish
Maybe you’ve tried and loved ramen noodle salad before, or maybe it sounds bizarre to you (I was very skeptical too!). Despite its unusual ingredients, this is one of the easiest and tastiest side dishes I’ve tried, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite potluck recipes.
I know that ramen noodles–especially dry, uncooked ramen noodles–may seem like an unusual salad addition, but trust me! We’ll break them up into small pieces and toss them together with broccoli slaw, a few mix-ins, and an easy dressing. The final result is a crunchy, bright, and fresh salad full of texture and flavor!
This is a unique side dish (similar to my broccoli salad!) that goes well with everything from seared chicken to instant pot pulled pork (with a side of deviled eggs!). Bring it your next cookout and be prepared to share the recipe–everyone will be asking for the recipe!
What You Need
You need less than 10 ingredients for this easy salad. Let’s discuss a few of the most important ones:
- Broccoli slaw. This consists of shredded broccoli stems, cabbage, and carrots. It’s typically sold right next to bagged coleslaw and salads.
- Vinegar. I use a combination of rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar. If you can’t find rice vinegar (it’s usually in the asian food section of the grocery store!), you can substitute an equal amount of apple cider vinegar.
- Sunflower seeds. These add a nice salty crunch to the salad. Chopped peanuts or toasted slivered almonds would also work well here.
- Ramen noodles. I usually just break up my noodles by hand or smack them with a rolling pin. Chicken flavored ramen is my preference, but you could experiment with other flavors. Don’t forget to save the seasoning packets–we’ll use them for our dressing!
- Red pepper flakes. I add a pinch just for a little kick, but you can always omit this (or add more if you want a lot of kick!).
SAM’S TIP: While my recipe has always called for canola or vegetable oil, I’m now trying to move away from these oils as much as possible. An equal amount of light olive oil works just fine here.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make It
- Prepare the salad – Toss together the broken noodles, broccoli slaw, green onions, and sunflower seeds.
- Make the dressing – Whisk the oil, sugar, vinegars, crushed red pepper, and seasoning packets in a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, then pour over the salad.
- Toss everything together until well coated and let sit in the fridge for one hour before serving.
SAM’S TIP: Some people like to toast their ramen before adding it for extra flavor. If you’d like to do this too, you can follow the directions in my how to toast coconut tutorial (just sub the broken ramen for the coconut!).
Frequently Asked Questions
I personally prefer to enjoy this salad immediately after the chilling step, but you can still enjoy it the next day. The noodles will soften over time, so you will lose some texture. The flavor will still be great though!
I think this salad tastes best when prepared as directed below, but if you want to use less of or completely remove the seasoning packet, you can. If you do this, you may need to add salt or other spices to compensate for the missed flavor.
I love my recipe as-is, but some people like to toss in shelled edamame, chopped snow peas or sugar snap peas, mandarin orange segments, sesame seeds, toasted almonds, or cilantro. Lots of fun options!
I hope you love this one as much as I do!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Ramen Noodle Salad
Ingredients
- 24 oz shredded broccoli slaw available by the pre-packaged salad mixes lettuce, etc., usually sold in 12 oz bags, so you will need 2
- 2 3 oz packages chicken flavored ramen noodles broken into small pieces (reserve seasoning packet)
- ½ cup chopped green onions about 6 green onions, sliced
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup canola, vegetable, or light olive oil (120ml)
- ⅓ cup sugar (66g)
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar (60ml)
- 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine broccoli slaw, broken ramen noodles, green onions, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, vinegars, crushed red pepper, and reserved seasoning from both ramen packets.
- Drizzle over salad mixture and toss well.
- Chill in the refrigerator for one hour before serving to allow flavors to meld and noodles to soften. I prefer this salad best when served the same day that it is made as the noodles are still somewhat crunchy and offer a great texture, but it does taste good the next day with softer noodles, too.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Beth ewalt
I’ll change the dressing considerably, one seasoning packet from the soup, small amount, perhaps 1 tablespoon light soy, juice of one lime, fresh garlic or a peanut dressing would be great also more red pepper or mix harissa or Sriracha into dressing
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Enjoy, Beth! 🙂
Amy
Love this recipe! I make it frequently and my kids love it too. I leave the red pepper flakes out, but add feta. Yum!
Renee
Can you leave out the rice vinegar if you don’t have it?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Renee! You could substitute in white wine vinegar, or you could just use all apple cider vinegar. We hope you enjoy the salad! 😊
Lu Ann
Simple delicious!
Gidget
Going to make this but will use a store bought ginger sesame salad dressing! 😋👍