Ahhh ramen noodles.
As cliche as it is, I fell in completely in love with them, followed by entirely sick of them in my first year of university. I bought cases and cases of chicken flavoured Mr. Noodle that year. Stuck in a dorm room, a kettle as my only cooking aide, it was the only way to get a hot meal unless you wanted haul your ass down to the student cafeteria. Which required getting dressed and looking ‘reasonable’. Mr. Noodles it is.
Ramen is big business these days. There are some incredible ramen houses scattered around the city, and they be fancy. And soooo delicious. Definitely not the Mr. Noodles of the early 00s.
But oh, that humble $0.39 package of ramen still has loads of potential. Especially when you toast it up with some almonds and throw ’em into a flavour packed salad.
The toasting step will add an extra 10 minutes to the prep work here, but with little else to do, I wouldn’t recommend skipping it unless you really must. It adds SO much flavour. Good luck not snacking on the entire pan before it hits the salad bowl. Again, if you anticipate leftovers, reserve a handful of the ramen mixture and keep it in a separate container, tossing with the salad just before serving. It is a crunchy noodle salad after all.
The asian sesame dressing for this salad reminds me of our Asian Orzo Salad, which has always been a potluck favourite. This newbie is about to join the potluck line-up, though! The edamame is a perfect source of vegetarian protein. If you’ve got leftovers and want to take them for lunch, throw another handful of edamame in to boost the protein so it’s ‘meal worthy’. An alternative protein source like chicken, tofu or shrimp will do the job too.
Toss it together and voila, GORgeous.
Eat alongside a piping hot bowl of Mr. Noodles.
Erin
Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad
Serves | 6-8 |
Prep time | 10 minutes |
Cook time | 10 minutes |
Total time | 20 minutes |
Website | Lightly adapted from Gimme Some Oven |
Ingredients
- 14 ounce bag of cabbage slaw
- 1 cup frozen edamame (thawed)
- 1 mango (peeled and chopped)
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 2 - 2 ounce packages of ramen noodles (crumbled, flavour pack discarded)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Asian Sesame Dressing
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
Note
This would be a terrific potluck salad. Bring the ramen/almonds in separate container and toss them in just before serving to maximize the crunch factor!
Directions
1. | Preheat oven to 400F. Spread ramen noodles and almonds onto baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes, stirring halfway through, until lightly browned (watch carefully over the last minute or two to avoid burning them). Allow to cool for 5 minutes. |
2. | In a large bowl, combine cabbage slaw, edamame, mango, green onions and once cooled, ramen noodles and almonds. |
3. | In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for Asian Sesame Dressing. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. |
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