A 20-minute lunch break in winter calls for Ramen Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce! Warm ramen noodles that need only 4 minutes of cooking, crunchy veggies, an egg, and the most delicious Peanut Sauce EVER!
I’m playing around with typically Asian ingredients lately and creating a mix of cuisines you’ve never heard of before. So the most popular Ramen Noodle Salads are all with some kind of cole slaw and a simple vinaigrette. I wondered what ramen noodles would taste like with more of a Thai kinda Peanut Sauce and got creative. The peanut sauce was inspired by the Peanut Sauce Leelalicious uses in her Budda Bowl. The combination ended up being absolutely delicious!! Try for yourself :)
Let’s get to the most important question here because this is supposed to be lunch, right?
Can you make Ramen Noodle Salad Ahead of Time?
YES! You can! You either cook the noodles at home, mix with the rest of the ingredients and then eat the salad cold. OR, you take all ingredients separately to work and cook the noodles at work so you can have them warm. It takes only 4 minutes, a small pot and water, easy peasy.
If you want your noodles warm but don’t have a place to cook at work, no worries. Cook them for only 3 minutes at home, then rinse and drain well and store in a separate to the other ingredients heat-proof container. Once at work, bring 2 cups of water to the boil in a kettle, pour over the noodles and let sit for 1 minute. I’ve tried cooking the noodles completely in kettle water and while it kinda works after several minutes I feel they don’t come out as well cooked as with the 3 minutes in constant boiling water at home + 1 minute boiling water bath at work method. Drain, the noodles with a handy strainer * add your other ingredients and dig in.
* the link above is an affiliate link and I earn a couple cents commission if you buy the product through the link. All earnings go towards buying coffee and keep my brain running to create more blog posts for you :P
Ramen Noodle Salad with Peanuts
There are not many Ramen Noodle Salad recipes calling for peanuts out there. Not sure why because in my opinion they go super well together. Plus, you some more protein into your salad. The ramen egg and the peanuts + the peanut sauce are your protein, the noodles your carb and the veggies your brain food.
Which brings us to our next question.
Is Ramen Noodle Salad Healthy?
So here is the thing. Regular ramen noodle packages are incredibly unhealthy. The most unhealthy part is the little packages of seasoning the noodles come with. The most important to “healthyfy” a typical ramen dish is to discard the seasoning if there is any and use only the noodles.
The noodles themselves can have quite funky ingredients and you need to pay attention and read the labels when choosing your brand. The less ingredients on the ingredient list, the better. Brands I’ve used and like a lot are Heirloom Wheat Noodles * or Millet and Brown Rice Noodles *.
Pasta and noodles have been kind of demonized by the healthy foodie community! I’m not part of the carb demonizer club though. I think pasta and noodles CAN be healthy if paying attention to the ingredients in them, choosing good quality brands and pairing the pasta with sufficient vegetables and protein. Many pasta and/or noodle recipes out there really are unhealthy because they are not nutritionally balanced but not because pasta in itself is unhealthy by default. So there you have my 2 cents to the topic.
For another healthy noodle recipe, check out this delicious Coconut Curry Noodle Soup. It’s a super flavorful soup filled with veggies, shrimps and RICE NOODLES :D
* the links above are affiliate links and I earn a couple cents commission if you buy the products through the link. All earnings go towards buying coffee and keep my brain running to create more blog posts for you :P
Ramen Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce Video
Ramen Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Thai red curry
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 pack ramen noodles - (discard seasoning)
- 2 eggs
- 1 carrot
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 hand full coriander sprouts or regular fresh coriander - (a.k.a. cilantro)
- 1 Tbsp peanuts
- 1 Thai red chili
Instructions
- Bring 2 small pots filled with water to the boil.
- In the meantime, peel and julienne (very thinly slice) carrot and wash, and julienne bell pepper. Wash coriander sprouts. Wash and slice red chili and chop peanuts. Set aside.
- Once water is boiling, add ramen noodles to one pot and egg to the other. Set an alarm for 4 minutes.
- In the meantime prepare the dressing. Add coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, red curry, and sesame oil to a sealable jar and shake. Set aside.
- Prepare an ice bath for the egg by adding a cup of cold water and at least 10 ice cubes to a small bowl.
- Once 4-minute alarm goes off, drain noodles, rinse and drain again. By the time you are finished with this, the egg cooked for another minute. Remove it from the water with a slotted spoon and immediately submerge in ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Assemble your salad by adding noodles, veggies, chili and chopped peanuts to a large bowl, drizzle with all the dressing and enjoy!
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Chris says
Hi there, I’m looking forward to making this! just wondering what size the package of ramen noodles should be?
Lorena Grater says
5 oz/ 140g
ramen near me says
Pinned and can’t wait to try this!
Lucy says
Buenisimo.
Lorena says
Gracias Lucy :)