Who all has been to a cookout where someone (or maybe even you) brought a ramen noodles salad? Probably most people have. And with good reason… it is GOOD!! This salad gets an upgrade to dinner status with the addition of juicy chicken and toasted sliced almonds.
I’ll start by saying that 95% of the time my husband is happy with the meals I pick, sometimes he even helps me pick some to put on the meal list. But this one… he went along with, but had some serious reservations about it. He’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy and a light cabbage salad for dinner… just doesn’t seem like his type of meal. However, after one bite, he declared it was amazing and continued to compliment it several more times throughout dinner 🙂 Don’t you just love that?
The dressing is what really makes this salad incredible. It’s homemade, but easy to make. The other secret to a fantastic salad is to toast the ramen noodles and the sliced almonds before adding them to the salad. Toasted nuts are soooo good! I also added the purple cabbage because it’s my favorite cabbage and it just looks pretty 🙂
No step by step pictures this time, it’s a really fast meal and completely UNcomplicated. To make it even easier I picked up a rotisserie chicken and shredded it, but leftover chicken would be great too.
Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded or chopped
- 2 oz packages dry ramen 3
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 5 cups shredded green cabbage (12 oz thinly sliced)
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage (5 oz thinly sliced)
- 1 cup large carrot peeled and chopped into thin sticks 3/4
- 4 green onions sliced
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- DRESSING
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp dried ginger
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Crumble ramen into small pieces and place on baking sheet along with almonds, spread into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven until golden, tossing once halfway through baking, about 6 - 8 minutes.
- Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until well blended, season with salt to taste, set aside.
- To a large bowl add green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, green onions, chicken, toasted ramen and almonds and sesame seeds. Drizzle dressing over top and toss to evenly coat. Serve immediately.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
VICKY Stevens says
Excellent recipe! Thank you for printing a recipe that does NOT have Cilantro in it. It seems like everyone is sticking Cilantro / Coriander in all kinds of recipes. First of all I have an allergy to Cilantro and secondly it tastes like soap to me. Thanks again – I’ve officially adopted you as my favorite chef.
Lisa says
This looks wonderful! And, it was one of the most viewed posts from last week’s Try a New Recipe Tuesday! Congratulations! 🙂 Be sure to stop by and grab an “I’ve been featured” button from my sidebar for your blog. Your feature should go live shortly. I hope you will link up with us again this week! 🙂
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you so much! I’m humbled to have it be one of the most viewed posts 😀 I’ll definitely be linking up and I’ll be sure to grab the button 🙂 Happy Monday!
Johanne Lamarche says
So colorful and full of crunch and flavor. A winner!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you!! 🙂
Janine says
This looks delicious! haha I think my guy would initially react the same way if I served this up for dinner. Thanks for sharing =)
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you!! Our guys sound very similar 🙂
Miz Helen says
This is a great Chicken Salad we will really enjoy this combination. Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you, such a bright and fresh flavor combination! Have a great weekend and thank you for the party 🙂
Julia says
Such a lovely version of this salad! Your photos are gorgeous! Happy Fiesta Friday!
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you so much!! 🙂 Happy FF to you as well!
Sonal says
What a riot of colors! Love everything about it! 😀
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you, I’m glad 😀
sue obryan says
Hi there and welcome to Fiesta Friday #50, so nice to meet you! I could eat this salad for days, I love all the elements in it, the crunch, sweetness, savoriness. There is a Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood that makes a salad just likes this and I really have a hard time not overeating it! Better to make it at home and portion it out, and now I can! Thank you for bringing and have a wonderful weekend.
The Chunky Chef says
It’s nice to meet you as well, happy FF! 😀 It’s such an irresistible flavor and texture combination, I could eat it daily lol. Hope you enjoy it and have a great weekend too! 🙂
Hilda says
I have been making purple cabbage salad of different sorts a lot lately, so thanks for the timely recipe. I really needed an interesting variation, and this is it!
The Chunky Chef says
Awesome, I’m glad the timing worked out! 😀
skd says
I love all the flavors in the dressing. And the purple cabbage makes it so elegant
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you!!! Purple cabbage always brings such a nice pop of color 🙂
Denise Wright says
I’ve been craving this lately. Definitely going to try it this week! And pinning it. (found it Wed. Roundup)
The Chunky Chef says
Awesome, I hope you love it! It’s such a great salad 🙂
Cathy says
love, love this salad! Fresh. flavorful and delicious! Saying hello from Whimsey Wednesday! 🙂
Cathy
The Chunky Chef says
Hi there! 🙂 And thank you! I’m addicted to this salad… can’t ever have enough 🙂
Stephanie says
Ahhh yes! Pinned to my healthy Pintrest board! I feel like my husband would have the exact same reaction to the salad! When I gave him chef salad once he was like “I just want the meat and cheese”… (ha) but he ended up LOVING it and downing the whole thing 🙂 Gotta love when that happens! I love how the dressing is easy too, I have everything I need at home- cant wait to try it!
The Chunky Chef says
Yay, awesome!! Lol our husbands sound very similar 🙂 I love recipes that use things you already have on hand!