This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you).
Turn a beloved pantry staple, ramen, into Baby Bok Choy Salad for a crunchy, healthy appetizer. Loaded with vegetables, almonds, toasted noodles, and a nutty homemade sesame soy dressing, this makes for a great light lunch or dinner starter.
If you haven’t eaten or cooked with bok choy yet, don’t be intimidated. Also known as pak choi, pot choi, or Chinese cabbage, bok choy is a cruciferous vegetable in the mustard family; just like broccoli, turnips, kale, and cabbage. It tastes like a mash-up of cabbage and lettuce, and the baby version is so mild that it’s great raw (as it’s used in this baby boy choy salad). In my opinion, full-size bok choy is best enjoyed cooked in some way. Grilled bok choy and stir-fried bok choy are such a treat.
Ideal room temperature or chilled, this easy salad recipe is a hit at potlucks, as a dinner side dish, or a make-ahead lunch idea. The crunchy texture yet subtle flavor of the bok choy really allows the accessories, including a bold, Asian-style Sesame Dressing, to shine.
And in case you find yourself overstocked on grocery store ramen noodles, this 30-minute salad recipe is the perfect vehicle for the affordable pantry staple.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Baby bok choy: Usually found sold in big bags at Asian markets. Use mature bok choy (Chinese cabbage) or Napa cabbage instead. Cut and clean bok choy just like you would celery: Trim off and discard the end of the bulb and separate the stalks. Rinse the stalks in cool water, carefully brushing away any sand or dirt on the leaves. Use the bok choy, both the leaves and the stems, right away, or wrap in paper towels and store for up to 1 week in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer.
- Ramen noodles: Curly, raw ramen noodles, right out of the package. And no, you don’t need the seasoning packet for this recipe. (See optional ideas for how to put those spices to terrific use below in the “Recipe FAQs” section.)
- Sliced almonds: I like the blanched, skinless sliced kind, but skin-on almonds or slivered almonds are fine, too.
- Sesame seeds: Raw or toasted; take your pick. To toast sesame seeds, in a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the sesame seeds until golden brown and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a plate to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the pantry for 6 months or freezer storage bag in the freezer for up to 1 year.
Step by step instructions
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, olive oil, vinegar, sesame seeds, and soy sauce. Allow flavors to blend at room temperature while preparing the rest of the salad.
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Reduce heat to low. Add ramen noodles and almonds; sauté until toasted, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
- In a large bowl, combine baby bok choy, scallions, and crunchy mix. Drizzle salad dressing over the top and toss until uniformly combined. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 cups salad (or more depending on the size of your baby bok choy).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. While the salad is still safe to eat for up to 4 days, the noodles will soften over time.
- Make ahead: Make the salad dressing up to 7 days in advance. The toasted, cooled noodles and nuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months, or frozen for up to 1 year. Chop the bok choy and scallions the night before and refrigerate separately until serving time.
- More Asian flavors: Start off your next Asian meal with Crab Rangoon, Chinese Chicken Wings, or Korean Barbecue Meatballs. Try a side dish of quick Brown Fried Rice, Asian Cucumber Salad, or a hearty Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Salad Dressing. For a delicious main dish, try Thai Peanut Chicken and Noodles or a hot bowl of Chicken Ramen.
Recipe FAQs
Just add protein! Top each serving with leftover or rotisserie chicken, grilled shrimp, or drained and rinsed white beans.
Definitely don’t just toss it; there are countless ways to put this savory blend to work. Dust ramen seasoning over popcorn, toss with vegetables before roasting, add a dash (or more) to the bread crumb mixture for breaded chicken, or fold it into perk up a previously-plain rice side dish.
More stellar salads
Salad Recipes
Kale Salad
Salad Recipes
Farro Salad with Peas and Feta
Salad Recipes
Mediterranean Chopped Salad
Salad Recipes
Broccoli Salad Recipe
Join Us
Baby Bok Choy Salad with Sesame Dressing
Ingredients
For the sesame dressing:
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (see note 1)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
For the salad:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 package ramen noodles crumbled, seasoning packet discarded (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds (see note 3)
- 1 bunch baby bok choy sliced (5 – 6 bulbs, see note 4)
- 5 scallions chopped
Instructions
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, olive oil, vinegar, sesame seeds, and soy sauce. Allow flavors to blend at room temperature while preparing the rest of the salad.
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Reduce heat to low. Add ramen noodles and almonds; sauté until toasted, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
- In a large bowl, combine baby bok choy, scallions, and crunchy mix. Drizzle salad dressing over the top and toss until uniformly combined. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Sesame seeds: Raw or toasted; take your pick. To toast sesame seeds, in a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the sesame seeds until golden brown and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a plate to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the pantry for 6 months or freezer storage bag in the freezer for up to 1 year.
- Ramen noodles: Dry, raw ramen noodles, right out of the package. And no, you don’t need the seasoning packet for this recipe (but see FAQs for ideas on what to do with it).
- Sliced almonds: I like the blanched, skinless sliced kind, but skin-on almonds or slivered almonds are fine, too.
- Baby bok choy: Usually found sold in big bags at Asian markets. Use mature bok choy (Chinese cabbage) or Napa cabbage instead. Cut and clean bok choy just like you would celery: Trim off and discard the end of the bulb and separate the stalks. Rinse the stalks in cool water, carefully brushing away any sand or dirt on the leaves. Use the bok choy, both the leaves and the stems, right away, or wrap in paper towels and store for up to 1 week in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 c. salad (or more depending on the size of your baby bok choy).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. While the salad is still safe to eat for up to 4 days, the noodles will soften over time.
- Make ahead: Make the salad dressing up to 7 days in advance. The toasted, cooled noodles and nuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months, or frozen for up to 1 year. Chop the bok choy and scallions the night before and refrigerate separately until serving time.
Delicious. Salad need any seasoning?
Hi Barb, I love this salad the way it is, but you can always adjust the amounts to your preference! – Meggan
We liked this a lot! I used palm sugar about 1 T since it’s paleo friendly. It had the perfect level of sweetness. I used coconut amines instead of soy. I will make this salad again! Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Carmen, thanks! That sounds great, thank you for sharing. – Meggan
I forgot I didn’t have any sliced almonds, so I just used the toasted ramen. I also substituted rice wine vinegar for the red wine vinegar in the dressing because that’s what I had in the cupboard. I used red onion instead of scallions because that’s what I had on hand. Super delicious salad! Thank you so much for posting this. It was a great way to enjoy fresh bok choy.
Those substitutions sound great Kassie, thanks! – Meggan
Fantastic!!!!
Didn’t have sesame seeds in the cupboard. Used sesame seed oil instead. Perfect!
Thanks Lieneke, so glad you liked it! – Meggan
I was looking for something to do with three heads of petite baby bok choi, and came upon this recipe. I used half a package of noodles, three scallions, and adjusted the dressing for a smaller portion.
What a super great easy recipe!
I’m having it again tonite, and I’m using what leftover dressing I had (it won’t be enough – it IS drinkable!). This salad is definitely a keeper, and one I’ll look forward to bringing to ANY potluck I attend. I used to make a similar salad, with the sauteed ramen noodles, and when I take to a picnic or other event, I’ll definitely prepare the noodles & almonds in advance, and add that with the dressing just before serving. I like that it’s different than the usual salad, and with no mayo, will be safe to leave out for awhile.
YUM!
I did it exactly the first time– great, and then went to the store on Monday and there was no bokchoy.
So I used Napa cabbage, much bigger and cheaper!
I have used both pistachios and toasted almonds.
This is a great way to get kids to eat veggies. I can put anything in the ‘bok choy” part– grated carrots, broccoli– and they’ll eat it because the vinaigrette is so good. I really increased the sesame oil because I loved the taste, went with rice vinegar as that’s all I had, and used light brown sugar (and not much). It was so good. The fried ramen noodles are just wonderful texture.
That sounds delicious Alicia, way to get creative! So glad you enjoyed. – Meggan
I would definitely use rice vinegar every time. I like that it lends an authentic Asian taste.
The recipe is lovely. I added rice wine vinegar instead of red, added a smidge of sesame oil to the dressing recipe. Added pears to the salad with cilantro and mint, and did veggie dumplings on the side
That sounds delicious Toni, thanks! – Meggan
I added just a bit of sesame oil too! A little bit adds a whole lot of flavor, and really enhances the dressing.
This was delicious! I didn’t have any sesame seeds on hand, so I added just under 1 tsp of sesame oil into the dressing and turned out well and tasted great.
Hi Tara, sounds great! So glad you enjoyed. – Meggan
I really was interested in your recipe. However, I was not able to get to the recipe. All the ads that continued to come up on the site, plus your video, kept interfering with me getting to the recipe at the end of this segment. I would scroll down and something would pop up. That would put me right back at the beginning of this recipe. I must have repeated that procedure for at least 3 min. Trying to get down to the recipe or even reading what you had to say about it. So it is hard to rate something when you can not get to it. I looked for a place where I could email your Institute to let you know. I am giving you a four with out making your salad. Hoping that it deserves it.
Hi Karen, are you using the Firefox browser by any chance? There is some kind of glitch that happens with that, it has nothing to do with the ads or the videos, just that browser is conflicting with the social sharing buttons on my site. You scroll down and it pops you back up to the top. I might have to disable those buttons so that doesn’t keep happening. I’m really sorry about that. Thanks for letting me know! -Meggan
I don’t want your readers to make the mistake I did. The ramen noodles required are the ones which are instant- they’re actually par-boiled. Once when we ran out, my husband ran to the store & brought back regular, RAW ramen. It was like using uncooked spaghetti- BIG difference!! I practically shredded my hands trying to break it, & chewing it was dangerous! The other thing I wanted to mention, is a variation I tried from another recipe: instead of the brown sugar, use the juice of 1 orange- the orange doesn’t dominate, & we actually prefer this variation.
Raw noodles are uncooked and ready to eat as is. They are not what you want to use! You actually DO need to use the hard ones that come in a little block, which you would normally boil for a minute to soften,
The key to using the hard ones without shredding your hands is to put the block into a plastic bag and use a mallet or hammer or the hard handle of some utensil to beat the heck out of them. It only takes a few minutes, but you end up with a whole bunch of crushed noodles which brown nicely with the almonds.
It sounds like your way worked out fine, but try the hard crunchy ones, and I think you’ll like this recipe even more!