Made with just three ingredients, this easy Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad Topping adds amazing texture to any simple salad to make it a crowd pleaser!
I was sharing recently on my Instagram that my ideal day of eating would be to have sweeter, starch-based meals for breakfast and lunch and then eat ALL the vegetables for dinner. It's just what works best for my body, energy levels and taste buds.
I don't know when I started loving vegetables so much. Probably when I went vegan and began experimenting more in the kitchen, trying out different, new-to-me produce. When it comes to loving vegetables, I believe it's all in how you prepare them and what toppings and condiments you add. Salads, especially, are so boring until you add a bunch of different textures on top and use a rich, flavorful or creamy dressing. For toppings I love to add fresh, chopped fruit, salted nuts and seeds, chewy dried fruit, creamy fats like avocado or a cashew or tahini based dressing and something crunchy like this Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad Topping!
Crunchy Salad Toppings
It was my sister-in-law who introduced this Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad Topping concept to me. She makes the most amazing salad with just romaine lettuce, sliced carrot, a simple vinaigrette dressing and a crunchy ramen noodle salad topping. I could eat the entire serving size bowl of her salad easily! Her original recipe uses butter to sauté the ramen noodles, nuts and seeds, but I switched the butter out for coconut oil and this crunchy noodle topping tastes just as amazing! I love having it on hand to add to salads throughout the week and it really does get me excited to eat salad, no matter how simple they are. Even Brett enjoys salads more when we have this simple Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad Topping on hand!
Some other simple crunchy salad toppings are nuts, seeds, fresh fruit like apple, croutons, crispy baked chickpeas, raw vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, radish, raw onion, bell pepper, etc!
Salad Dressings
Like I mentioned above, salad dressings also make a huge different when trying to eat more vegetables. They obviously give salads flavor and I even love to drizzle salad dressing over my roasted vegetables and buddha bowls. Salad dressings are so easy to make from scratch at home, but if you don't have time or even the desire to make your own, there's no harm in buying store-bought salad dressings. Just be sure to read the ingredient labels to make sure they're not loaded with excess sugar and salt and contain ingredients you actually want to eat. Some of my favorite dressing to make at home are my Lemon Tahini Dressing, my vegan Caesar salad dressing, my Low-Fat Asian Peanut Dressing, my simple 2 ingredient Lemon Tahini Dressing, or just a basic vinaigrette using an oil, vinegar and spices.
Feel free to get creative with the nuts and seeds you have on hand. I'd love to know if you give this recipe a try and what you think. Leave a comment down below, rate the recipe and share it with others! If you do give it a try, be sure to take a photo of the final product and share it on Instagram, tagging @theconscientiouseater so I can see your creation!
📖 Recipe
Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad Topping
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 3 ounce ramen noodles broken into small pieces
- Optional: a handful of seeds like sunflower or pumpkin
Instructions
- Melt the coconut oil in a fry pan over medium heat.
- Add the ½ cup slivered almonds and the crushed ramen noodles to the oil and stir well to coat.
- Continually stir the almonds and noodles over the heat until they start to turn golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.
- Once starting to turn golden, pour the mixture onto a dry plate and allow the nuts and noodles to cool completely.
- Sprinkle over leafy green salads for some extra crunch and texture!
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container for a couple days.
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