The Best Chinese Chicken Salad with Ramen Noodles
The Best Chinese Chicken Salad with Ramen Noodles
This Chinese chicken salad recipe is one of those simple dishes that delivers big on flavor, texture, and visual appeal. Whether you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner, a refreshing lunch, or a crowd-pleasing potluck side, this ramen noodle salad checks all the boxes. It’s loaded with tender grilled chicken, crisp cabbage, toasted almonds and seeds, and crunchy ramen noodles—all tossed in a tangy homemade dressing that brings everything together beautifully.
What makes this salad extra special is the balance of flavors and textures: savory chicken, toasty crunch, and sweet-and-sour zing from the dressing. It’s endlessly versatile too—customize it with your favorite protein, use a coleslaw mix for convenience, or add a splash of sesame oil or sriracha for an extra kick. Once you try this easy and satisfying salad, it’ll quickly become a staple in your meal rotation!
Table of Contents
- Ramen Chicken Salad Ingredients
- Toasting the Seeds and Almonds
- How to Make the Salad Dressing
- Final Thoughts
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Recipes You’ll Love
Ramen Chicken Salad Ingredients
Grilled chicken, shredded cabbage, green onion, toasted seeds and slivered almonds, and crunchy ramen noodles come together in this flavorful salad. Serve it as a main dish or as a side dish.
Toasting the Seeds and Almonds
Heat a little oil in a skillet, add sesame or sunflower seeds and almonds, and stir until lightly browned. It adds a wonderful crunch and nutty flavor.
How to Make the Salad Dressing
This easy dressing combines oil, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and a bit of the Ramen seasoning packet. It’s light, tangy, and brings everything together!
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t tried this Chinese chicken salad yet, now’s the time. You’ll love how easy and satisfying it is!
Tip: Use at least a 4-quart bowl. I love my Pyrex Smart Essentials 8-Piece Mixing Bowl Set for big salads like this one!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this Chinese chicken salad ahead of time?
Yes! Prep all the components and store them separately. Mix them together just before serving to keep everything fresh and crunchy.
Do I have to use grilled chicken?
Nope! Rotisserie chicken, baked, or pan-cooked chicken all work great. Use what’s convenient for you!
Can I skip the Ramen seasoning packet?
Yes, you can skip it or substitute with a bit more soy sauce or your favorite Asian-style seasoning blend.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Absolutely. Just leave out the chicken or replace it with tofu or edamame for a protein boost.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Panda Express Orange Chicken Recipe (Copycat)
- Freezer Chinese Ham Fried Rice Recipe
- Green Salad Recipe with DIY Zesty Italian Dressing
This is a family favorite recipe from my friend, Jessica.
Best Ramen Noodle Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 pounds chicken cooked and chopped
- 1 head cabbage shredded
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 package Chicken or Oriental Ramen noodles 3 ounces
- 2 ounces sesame seeds or sunflower seeds
- 4 ounces slivered almonds
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
Dressing
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 tablespoons cider or rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- Ramen seasoning packet
Instructions
- Crush or break apart the Ramen noodles and reserve the seasoning packet for the salad dressing.
- Heat the 1/2 teaspoon oil in a skillet on medium-high heat and toast the seeds and almonds until lightly browned.
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped chicken, shredded cabbage, green onions, noodle pieces, seeds, and almonds.
- In a small or medium bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to coat. Serve as a main dish or side dish.
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This chicken salad recipe looks amazing. I can not wait to try it. I am a huge fan of cilantro so I would add a little cilantro to your recipe! Yum.
Cilantro would probably be a nice touch! I think I want to try adding a little bit of lemon juice to the dressing next time. Anyway, hope you like it, Monica!
How many packets of ramen noodles is not listed in the list of ingredients. In fact, they’re not listed at all. Just common sense but I wanted to know how many.
Hi, Angela! I see it in the recipe under the salad ingredients. 🙂 Here ya go: 1 package Chicken or Oriental Ramen noodles (3 ounces)
I’ve been searching for this, it’s the recipe my grandmother used & I lost it. So excited to find it! Question though, how many hours do you let it sit to let the noodle soften? I feel like she made it the day before we had it, but I don’t remember. Thanks!
I don’t let it sit for the noodles to soften and I think it still works out great! I’m guessing the noodles would soften fairly quickly, but I suppose you’ll have to experiment with that and let us know how it goes! 🙂
Katie I don’t use the noodle are so I g packet at all. 1 cup canola oil, 1tsp salt, 1 tsp , pepper, 1 tblsp sugar, 1 tsp accent, 8 tblsp rice vinegar (original) , 3 seasoned chicken breast (I bake mine), 2 stalks of green pinion, packet of slivered almonds (toast optional).
Mix oil, salt, pepper, Accent, sugar, rice vinegar together ( set aside). Chop large head of cabbage finely, chop oinion, crumble ramen noodles, shred chicken then mix all together well ( Make sure throughly mix). Pour dressing all over salad, then throughly mix. Cover, place in refrigerator over night ir at lesst 6 to 8 hours.
Hope this help. By the way, this was the Origi al recipe. I omit the accent (for health reason) and use 1 tsp more instead.
Correction: 1 tsp miren instead.
Two pounds is a lot of chicken compared to the rest of ingredients. Would it affect the recipe much if I used only one pound?
That should be fine. There will just be less chicken to go around! 🙂
Also, if I’m using packaged cole slaw mix, how much do I buy?
I am not sure! My guess would be about 5-7 cups of raw, shredded cabbage.
I’m making this for a baby shower and I need to double the recipe. I’m wondering how it would work to use packaged cole slaw and canned chicken?
I haven’t personally made it that way, but I think it would probably work! I hope it turns out awesome for you and the baby shower is a success! 🙂
No measurements
My mom had a recipe for a salad like this (can’tfind it). In hers she cooked the noodles without using the Seasoning packet. Just to clarify. You use them straight from the package?
Yes, uncooked noodles give the salad an added crunch 😋