cold ramen salad

In case you haven't been following along, I bought a bunch of salad supplies earlier this week to satisfy a salad craving. After eating one salad, the craving went away and now I have a fridge full of vegetables that I'm determined not to throw away. This cold ramen salad is the perfect way to use up extra vegetables.

This salad was inspired by this blog post that highlighted cold ramen salads that other bloggers have posted about (recipe ideas run like falling dominos across the internet). I used the vegetables that bought for the salad, some ham that I had in the freezer (left over from breakfast pizzas) and an egg for some substance. I whipped up my own basic Asian sauce with four basic Asian ingredients that can be bought at almost any major grocery store for just a few dollars. This is one of those great recipes that is completely customizable to what you have in your fridge.

I've always scoffed at the "two servings per package" listed on the nutrition label of ramen packets. I really don't know anyone who just eats half but once you transform it into this veggie packed salad, it really does turn into two servings. The vegetables bulk it up quite a bit and will keep your belly full for quite a while. Promise.

To see the original post about all of my salad goods and the other way I used them, click here.





Total Recipe cost: $1.97
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Cost per serving: $0.99
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 10 min. Total: 25 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 pkg	ramen noodles	$0.19
1.5 Tbsp	soy sauce	$0.09
1 Tbsp	rice vinegar	$0.04
1 Tbsp	brown sugar	$0.03
1/2 tsp	sriracha hot sauce	$0.03
1/2 tsp	sesame oil	$0.08
1/2 tsp	corn starch	$0.02
1 Tbsp	sesame seeds	$0.07
1 medium	hard boiled egg	$0.10
2 oz.	sliced ham	$0.37
2 sliced	green onions	$0.13
1/2 cup	shredded carrot	$0.24
1/4 medium	cucumber, sliced	$0.16
1 medium	roma tomato	$0.42
TOTAL		$1.97

STEP 1: Boil the ramen noodles according to the package directions. Discard the flavoring packet (or save it for some other use). Drain the noodles when they are done cooking and allow them to cool. If you refrigerate them to cool, they will congeal and you can run cold water over them to loosen them later.

STEP 2: While the noodles are boiling, prepare the sauce. In a bowl combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil and sriracha sauce. Add 1 Tbsp of water and the corn starch. Stir well to dissolve as many clumps as possible. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and microwave for another 15-30 seconds or until it begins to boil. It should be slightly thickened at this point. Allow the sauce to cool.

STEP 3: In a dry skillet, toast the sesame seeds over medium high heat. To do this, continually stir them until they are a gold brown color (this happens quickly) then immediately remove them from the hot pan to stop the toasting process.

STEP 4: Combine the noodles, sauce, vegetables, egg, ham, sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Serve with soy and sriracha so that each person can adjust the taste to their preferences!

Step By Step Photos

Cook the ramen noodles until soft, drain and then let cool.


Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sriracha. Add 1 Tbsp of water and 1/2 tsp of cornstarch, stir well to dissolve then microwave until thickened (about 45 seconds). This picture is just before adding the cornstarch and microwaving.


Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium/high heat until golden brown. Make sure to continually stir them while they toast. Remove them from the pan when they look like this. Toasted sesame seeds have 10x the flavor that raw sesames do.


Collect all of your salad ingredients then add them all to the cooled noodles (disregard the sauce in the picture, it was my first version which was not as good as what is listed here).


I reserved a small amount of each topping to use as a garnish on top of the salad at the end. Also stir in the toasted sesame seeds (not pictured).