Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Asian salad with ramen noodles combines a variety of tastes and textures, and makes enough to feed a crowd! It’s crunchy and flavorful, with an easy soy vinaigrette dressing.
How long it takes: 30 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan or skillet, cutting board, large bowl
Servings: 16
Popular Asian Salad
Always a hit at potlucks! You may recognize this Asian salad because it often shows up get-togethers. It makes a big batch, everyone likes it, and it’s easy to serve. This Asian-style salad with crispy ramen noodles goes well with nearly everything and has great flavor.
Lots of crunch! Each bite of this salad contains so much excitement! Particularly enjoyable are all the crunchy elements in this salad: toasted sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds; wonton strips and ramen noodles.
Healthy vegetables and an easy vinaigrette, too. Along with shredded cabbage, carrots, green onions, and crisp bean sprouts, Asian salad boasts a very tasty vinaigrette dressing made with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Because it isn’t a mayo-based dressing that can spoil in warm temperatures, Asian salad is a good warm weather salad. (Vinegar coleslaw and this Asian-style cabbage salad are good picnic/potluck choices, too.)
Ingredient Notes
- Shredded Cabbage and Carrots: Shred your own or buy a package of coleslaw mix. Feel free to mix it up with shredded red cabbage for lots of color.
- More Veggies: Sliced green onion and bean sprouts round out the salad. I like to use fresh bean sprouts but if they aren’t available, use canned sprouts.
- Crunchies: Sesame seeds, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds are toasted first to bring out all that great flavor. Ramen noodles and wonton strips add even more crunch.
- Homemade Vinaigrette: Comprised of olive oil (vegetable oil or grapeseed oil would also work well), white vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil (optional), sugar, salt and pepper, this dressing is easy to make with pantry items.
How to make Asian Salad
There are three main components to this salad: a cabbage mixture, crunchy stuff (almonds, seeds, wonton strips, ramen noodles), and dressing. I like to keep the three components separate until serving time.
Find the biggest bowl you have. Seriously. This makes a really big salad!
Toast the almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds. You don’t necessarily have to toast them but give it a try! It really enhances the flavor. Spread the sesame seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds in a rimmed baking pan and bake them for about 10 minutes.
Cool. Remove them from the pan as soon as they are toasted to stop them from toasting more and burning. Spread them on a plate to fully cool.
Skillet Toasting
If you don’t want to heat up your oven, another way to toast your seeds and almonds is to use a dry skillet on the stovetop. Toast the sesame seeds about 3 minutes at medium temperature, remove them from the pan, and toast the sunflower seeds and almonds about 5 minutes. Stir them and watch closely because they burn quickly. Remove them when they’re toasted golden and spread them on a plate to cool.
Prep the veggies. Clean and cut the cabbage, carrots, green onions, and sprouts.
How To Shred Cabbage
Use a sharp knife to slice the cabbage in half or quarters. Core the cabbage. Then, place the flat side of the half on your cutting board. Slice the cabbage into very thin ribbons. Watch this short video to learn how.
A mandoline or food processor also works well for shredding the cabbage. Buy pre-shredded cabbage for an easy shortcut.
Combine veggies. Mix the cabbage and other vegetables in a very large bowl.
Make the vinaigrette. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl. Shake (or whisk) until well-blended.
Combine just before serving. When you’re ready to serve the salad, add the dressing to the cabbage mixture and stir well. Add seeds, nuts, wonton strips, and ramen noodles and serve immediately.
Prep all three components of the salad (cabbage mixture, toasted nuts and seeds, dressing) up to a day ahead of time, keeping them separate, storing the cabbage mixture in the fridge. It’s easy to stir in the dressing and toppings when you’re ready to serve the salad. It just takes a few minutes to stir everything together and it’s worth it to wait.
Easy Recipe Variations
- This recipe can easily be halved. It makes a giant batch which is great for a crowd but not so great for a small family. Just make however much you want. The salad is pretty flexible so don’t worry if yours has extra noodles or not enough almonds or whatever. No one will notice, trust me.
- Add more veggies or substitute ones you like better. I love to add chopped bell peppers to this salad. Snow peas or sugar snap peas are really good, or finely chopped broccoli. Shredded kale, Brussels sprouts, or spinach can be substituted for some of the cabbage.
- Mix and match the seeds and nuts. Since there’s a whole array of crunchy stuff in this salad, you can easily omit one or two, or substitute ones you like better. Roasted peanuts or cashews are really good. I always eliminate the sesame seeds (and sesame oil) since my family is allergic to them. Often I just use sunflower seeds and ramen noodles if I’m making a smaller salad and it’s totally great.
- Add protein to make a main course salad. Baked or air fryer tofu, shredded chicken, or grilled shrimp are great on this salad. Try serving this salad with spicy Asian chicken wings or soy glazed salmon. Grill chicken that’s been marinated with Asian chicken marinade for an easy meal.
- Looking for another easy salad? I love this main course cabbage salad with rotisserie chicken and honey lime dressing. Another one of my favorite quickie weeknight meals is egg roll in a bowl. It’s a one pan 30 minute dinner.
Refrigerate. Cover leftover salad tightly and store it in the fridge for up to two days. This salad will completely change as it sits over time. It will no longer be crunchy, but still very flavorful. If desired, stir in fresh wonton strips, seeds and almonds to give it more crunch.
Getting sick of eating leftover salad? Mix it up by cooking up some ground chicken and sautéing this salad with the chicken. Roll it up in egg roll wrappers and make air fryer egg rolls! Follow the recipe, except for the filling, only use the ground chicken and add about 3 cups of salad as a substitute for the remaining filling ingredients.
More Crowd-Pleasing Salads
Asian Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- ¾ cup sliced raw almonds
- 3 tablespoons raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1 package (3 ounce) instant ramen noodles (chicken flavor, or any flavor you like)
- 16 to 18 cups shredded cabbage, about 1 head (see note)
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrot (1 large carrot)
- ¾ cup chopped green onions (1 bunch)
- 1 cup bean sprouts (see note)
- 1 package (3.5 ounce) wonton strips (about 2 cups)
Dressing
- ½ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil, (or to taste, optional)
- 1 flavor packet from instant noodles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread sesame seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds on a large baking pan. Bake the seeds and almonds for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Watch closely near the end of the baking time as they can burn quickly. Remove from baking pan, spreading on a plate to cool completely. Don’t leave them in the pan because they will continue to brown. (See note for toasting nuts in skillet.)3 tablespoons sesame seeds, ¾ cup sliced raw almonds, 3 tablespoons raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- Remove flavor packet from ramen noodle package, set aside. Crush noodles into bite size pieces using your hands.1 package (3 ounce) instant ramen noodles
- In a very large mixing bowl, combine shredded cabbage, carrots, green onions, and bean sprouts.16 to 18 cups shredded cabbage, about 1 head, 1 ½ cups shredded carrot, ¾ cup chopped green onions, 1 cup bean sprouts
- Make the dressing in a jar or small bowl. Add olive oil, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, sesame oil, and flavor packet from the noodles to bowl or container. If using a bowl, whisk ingredients together thoroughly. If using a jar, shake ingredients until well combined. Make sure the oil and vinegar are mixed together well and not separated.½ cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 ½ tablespoons vinegar, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 flavor packet from instant noodles, ¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil,
- When you are ready to serve, pour the dressing over the salad and use salad tongs to combine. Stir in wonton strips, crushed ramen noodles, seeds and almonds. Serve immediately.1 package (3.5 ounce) wonton strips
Notes
- Shredded cabbage: Green or red cabbage is fine, or a combination for a more colorful salad. You can substitute two 14-ounce bags of coleslaw mix, if you prefer.
- Bean sprouts: Fresh bean sprouts are best. If you use canned bean sprouts, rinse them well, drain and pat dry before adding them to the salad.
- Toasting almonds and seeds in skillet on the stovetop: At medium low heat, toast the sesame seeds about three minutes, stirring often; remove from pan. Add sunflower seeds and almonds, stirring often, toast for 5 minutes. Watch closely because they burn quickly. Remove when they’re toasted and spread them on a plate to cool. If you leave them in the skillet, they will continue to brown.
- Make ahead: Prep all three components of the salad (cabbage mixture, toasted nuts and seeds, dressing) up to a day ahead of time, keeping them separate, storing the cabbage mixture in the fridge. It’s easy to stir in the dressing and toppings when you’re ready to serve the salad.
- Storage: Cover leftover salad tightly and store it in the fridge for up to two days. The salad will no longer be crunchy but will still be very flavorful. If desired, stir in fresh wonton strips, seeds and almonds to give it more crunch.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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