This Chicken Ramen Salad is a hearty entree salad with a savory dressing that brings veggies to life. Crunchy, light, satisfying, and packed with good-for-you ingredients, this salad is sure to make it into your regular weeknight dinner rotation.
Short on Time
Don't have time to chop cabbage and shred carrots? No prob!
Look for pre-made "coleslaw mix" in the produce section at your grocery store. It generally comes in 14 oz bags. Grab two bags and use them in place of the cabbage and carrots in this recipe.
One thing you don't want to skip? Toasting the ramen noodles and almonds. They get extra nutty and flavorful and unlock and extra level of magic in this recipe.
Substitutions
I love using ground chicken for this recipe because it's so dang easy to prepare. But, you can use rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken if that's what you have. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken!
Same goes for the additional veggies. You could add in cucumbers, edamame, or mandarin oranges if you like. The dressing goes great on everything.
Make the Dressing
This dressing takes no time to make. Just pop the oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, honey, and ginger paste into a jar and shake or whisk to mix it all up.
No need to add salt since the soy sauce has plenty to make the whole dish come alive.
If you don't have ginger paste, you can use equal amounts of minced ginger. But, the paste in the tube that I get at my local grocery store is so easy and I use it in other recipes like my peanut noodles.
Amazing Leftovers
This salad is so good when it's served fresh, but don't underestimate how tasty it is the next day. This is one of those meals that makes me excited for leftovers.
The noodles do turn soft the next day which gives it more of a noodle salad vibe. And the flavors just get richer and deeper.
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Chicken Ramen Salad
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings
- Category: salad
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
This Chicken Ramen Salad is a hearty entree salad with a savory dressing that brings veggies to life. Crunchy, light, satisfying, and packed with good-for-you ingredients, this salad is sure to make it into your regular weeknight dinner rotation.
Ingredients
- 1lb ground chicken
- ¼ tsp granulated garlic
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 Tbs unsalted butter
- 2 packages of your favorite flavor of ramen noodles, uncooked, including the seasoning packets
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 10 cups cabbage, shredded *see notes
- 1 cup carrot, shredded
- 4 scallions, chopped
- ½ cup avocado or vegetable oil
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ c soy sauce
- 1 Tbs sesame oil
- 2 Tbs honey
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- Sesame seeds and sriracha for garnish
Instructions
- Start by making the ground chicken. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the ground chicken, breaking it up with the back of a spatula until it crumbles, then mix in the granulated garlic and salt.
- Once the chicken is cooked through remove it from the heat, put it into a bowl and set it to the side.
- While the ramen noodle packages are still sealed, using your hand or a rolling pin, break up the noodles inside the package. Set the seasoning packets to the side.
- Next, using the pan you cooked the chicken in, heat it over medium-high heat and add 2 Tbs unsalted butter along with the broken noodles and slivered almonds.
- Toss the noodles and almonds in the butter and let them get nice and golden, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Once nicely toasted, transfer the noodles and almonds to a bowl and set aside.
- Next, in a large bowl that you can use to toss a large salad, combine the cabbage, carrot, and scallions.
- Next, make your dressing by shaking or whisking together the oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and ginger paste in a mason jar or other salad dressing jar.
- When you are ready to serve, add the cooked chicken, toasted ramen and almonds, reserved seasoning packets, and all of the dressing to the bowl with the veggies. Toss until fully incorporated and serve.
- This also makes great leftovers. The noodles will be soft the next day and the flavors just keep getting better. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You can use red or green cabbage or both!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 328
- Sugar: 7.8 g
- Sodium: 489.3 mg
- Fat: 21.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.7 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 12.9 g
- Cholesterol: 41.6 mg
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