Japanese American Ramen Noodle Salad with Cabbage

It’s a ramen salad that Asian people actually eat! This ramen salad recipe has also been called Japanese coleslaw or cabbage ramen salad. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Due to reader request, I’ve been trying to intersperse more savory recipes in with my usual baking on Mochi Mommy. This week, it’s ramen salad! Also known by some of my friends and family as Japanese cabbage salad or Japanese coleslaw or ramen cabbage salad, this is another super popular Japanese American dish from my childhood. Who knew salads could be so nostalgic?

What is Ramen Noodle Salad?

Despite being called a salad, this dish is actually more of a coleslaw, as it’s comprised of shredded cabbage rather than lettuce. It has relatively few ingredients, actually, with the star being crushed, uncooked ramen noodles. The dressing for this salad is usually some sort of vinaigrette with sesame and rice vinegar flavors. No creamy salad dressings here, sorry.

Is Asian Ramen Salad Really Asian?

The short answer is: I don’t know! 

For whatever reason, ramen salad is very popular in the midwest and seems to make an appearance at many a church potluck. If you Google ramen noodle salad, you’ll notice that many recipes come from blond-haired, blue-eyed mom bloggers who say strange things like, “This is my healthier version” or “I avoid too much sodium/sugar.” Those recipes also usually have some distinctly non-Asian tells like using butter or apple cider vinegar.

However, the versions that I always ate growing up and that show up in my old Japanese church cookbooks use very typical Japanese American ingredients like sesame oil, rice vinegar, and green onions, with very specific instructions on what kind of instant noodles to use. Ramen cabbage salad appears as frequently in our cuisine as Chinese chicken salad, another Asian American dish that seems to have been adopted by the mainstream American public.

But who invented ramen noodle salad? The invention of instant ramen is credited to Momofuku Ando, a Japanese citizen of Taiwanese descent. His brand, Nissin, invented instant chicken ramen in 1958, which entered the U.S. market in the early 1970’s. Still, I can’t find any information on who first invented the ramen cabbage salad. Perhaps it’s actually a spin on Wolfgang Puck’s Chinese chicken salad, which uses shredded napa cabbage. This is in contrast to the Chinese chicken salads I am used to which predominantly use chopped lettuce. I even see some Chinese chicken salads that use fried chow mein noodles, very similar to the crunchy instant noodles required for this recipe.

Maybe these salads are all derivations of each other. Maybe the ones Asians eat are actually on a separate evolutionary branch from the midwestern ones. Who knows? What I do know is that for Japanese Americans, especially those of us with some sort of tie to Hawai’i, we have clear salad delineations: ramen cabbage salad is a coleslaw with a clear rice vinegar based dressing, no chicken, no oranges. Chinese chicken salad requires a bed of lettuce and may have optional mandarin oranges.

What Kind of Cabbage to Use

I recommend green cabbage for my recipe. All the recipes I have in my recipe book from the Japanese community use green cabbage. However, you can substitute napa cabbage if you prefer. I just personally think green cabbage holds up better, as napa can get very soft.

Some of the recipes I’ve seen also call for a small amount of sliced red cabbage as well, but I usually don’t add any to mine.

Another common substitution is prepackaged coleslaw mix. This certainly makes assembling this salad even easier than it already is, so this is definitely an option. For me personally, I prefer not to add carrots, so I avoid packages that have too many ingredients besides just cabbage. In my mind, if I see too much orange or purple, it’s not the kinds of salads from my childhood.

What Kind of Ramen for Ramen Salad?

You’ll want an instant ramen that has thin noodles and chicken flavor, the cheaper the better. Top Ramen is generally my ramen of choice, but any other similar brand will do. Try to get the ones with a separate seasoning packet, not ones where the seasoning is already on the noodles.

Other Key Ingredients

​Another great optional ingredient is broccoli slaw! One of the recipes in my Japanese cookbook calls for broccoli stems. If I have any on hand, they go great sliced into matchsticks and tossed into the salad. 

You can also add slivered almonds and a sprinkling of sesame seeds for extra crunch, similar to Chinese chicken salad.

However, I recommend no chicken and no mandarin oranges. I mean, obviously, you can do whatever you want, but for me, I don’t like to blur the salad lines with these two dishes too much. For chicken and oranges, I would do a Chinese chicken salad instead.

Similarly, I don’t do bell peppers, edamame, or other exciting veggies. Sorry. The name of the game is plain and simple, people.

Ramen Salad Dressing – With or Without Ramen Seasoning Packet?

100%, absolutely, WITH the seasoning packet. What’s even the point of a ramen salad if you aren’t putting in that ultra processed ramen flavor? Dump that powdery, chicken-y, salty goodness right into your salad dressing. The salad dressing is the same one I use for my somen salad, my Chinese chicken salad, and my tofu salad! It’s the quintessential Asian American vinaigrette. I dump the ingredients right into a mason jar, screw on the lid, and shake it up right before I toss my salad.

But because the ramen seasoning is so salty, I omit my usual two tbsp of soy sauce.

Okay, FINE, I know some of you have legitimate medical reasons why you may not be able to consume the ramen seasoning packet. In that case, go ahead and use my original recipe with the soy sauce instead.

The other dressing ingredients? Sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.

Before you ask, no, I don’t recommend reducing the sugar. Go ahead and do what you want or what you need to for your health, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t taste sweet enough.

I also don’t recommend substituting fancy oils like olive oil or avocado oil. This is an Asian salad, remember? Unless you’re allergic to sesame, in which case… that’s tough. I’m sorry.

Do I Cook the Instant Ramen Noodles First?

No. This is supposed to be an easy dish. Just wait until right before you serve the salad before sprinkling your crushed ramen noodles on top. They’ll be crunchy for serving and then soften over time as it soaks up the dressing.

If you are toasting your noodles with butter in a skillet over the stove, you have just crossed the line into firmly non-Asian territory.

Can Ramen Noodle Salad be a Main Dish?

Please, don’t. If you were confused at the lack of protein or variety of vegetables in this salad, this is why. This cabbage salad is strictly a side dish, especially great for a large party or potluck. It’s not the kind of salad you pack in your Tupperware for a work lunch. We don’t really do that in traditional Asian cuisine.

What to Serve with Ramen Salad?

Looking for recipes that go well with ramen salad? Try some grilled meats as a main dish, like my teriyaki recipes, along with some scoops of rice. Other noodle or vegetable salads also complement the meal. And you can finish off with some classic Asian American desserts.

• Teriyaki Chicken
• Teriyaki Beef
• Somen Salad
• Quick Pickled Veggies
• Classic Butter Mochi