Ramen Chicken Salad

Ramen Chicken Salad made with napa cabbage, coleslaw mix and Asian style dressing is a delicious dinner salad that’s easy to make and perfect for summer.

Asian chicken salad is a delicious blend of cabbages, chicken and crunchy ramen noodles. It gets extra flavor from sesame seeds, almond slices and mandarin oranges and is perfect when you want something different from the usual chicken salad recipe.

You can make this easy dinner salad ahead of time, pop into the fridge and serve when you’re ready to eat. It makes a lot of food, so you can enjoy leftovers the next day — perfect for meal prep!

I got this easy ramen chicken salad recipe years ago from a friend of mine — It’s very popular at potlucks. I misplaced the original recipe when I first wrote this post, and just updated it since I very luckily found the original when we moved.

How to Make Napa Cabbage Chicken Salad with Ramen

I think this is one of those recipes that you can easily customize and make your own. There’s really no right or wrong way to prepare it, and I’ve seen tons of different variations over the years.

You’ll need cooked chicken to make the salad. You can use rotisserie chicken from the store or cook chicken breasts in the oven, in the Instant Pot or Crock-Pot.

Make the Dressing

Start off by whisking the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Pop the dressing in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the salad — This gives the flavors time to blend.

Toast the Ramen

Next, break up a couple of packages of ramen noodles. I find it easiest to open them, remove the flavor packets and put the dried noodles into a large plastic freezer bag while breaking them into smaller pieces.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a large skillet, and toast the ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds until just lightly browned.

I like to make salads that are as colorful as possible, so I use a blend of napa cabbage and bag of coleslaw that has purple cabbage and shredded carrots in it. You can chop up your own veggie, but it’s a lot easier to use a mix.

Assemble the Salad

To assemble the salad, use the largest mixing bowl you have. Then, start adding some of the cooked chicken, cabbage, coleslaw mix and ramen.

I like to reserve some of the ramen and add it right before serving. It gets soft in the salad, so those that like it crunchy are satisfied!

Pour the dressing as you add the ingredients so that you get it on each layer. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix it all up!

Add Mandarin oranges and chopped green onions to the top for an extra pop of color and crunch. You can also add more sesame seeds and slivered almonds for presentation.

Isn’t this one of the prettiest, most colorful salads on the planet? Only problem is my kids eat the oranges first, so there’s none left by the second day!

How Long does the Salad Last?

This salad lasts for up to 3 days before getting a little too soggy. The flavors get better the longer it sits, so it still tastes good, though!

May contain affiliate links. See disclosure for more information.

Ramen Chicken Salad Recipe

Recipe has been updated as of May 2020

Pin Image to Save the Recipe

If you like this recipe as much as we do, leave a comment or give me a shout-out on social media! Sign up to receive weekly recipes by email!