The staple meal of college students across the country, lol. Very high in calories and sodium.

I love them in Oriental coleslaw. You use the seasoning packet to make the dressing and you crunch up the raw noodles and add them right before serving! Yum!

Don't get too fond of Ramen - the sodium content is HIGH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ramen Oriental salad

My mom always cooked them with cabbage, which is how I make them. I use half a pack of seasoning and add a little soy sauce like my mom.

Even w/o the high-sodium seasoning mix, ramen noodles aren't good for you. If I remember correctly, the noodles themselves are fried in palm oil (a bad oil) before being dried and formed into blocks. I agree that they taste good, but I stopped eating them years ago.

Michelle, we're allowing you one week on ramen noodles. :-)

Ew ick I wouldn't ever try them.....like sleeperblues said, high in salt and calories.

Now you know why no one told you - too much sodium among other things. I've never eaten them other than in some salad recipes. I now avoid entirely due to their high sodium content.

I use the noodles in just one recipe, my Oriental Coleslaw.
The extremely high-sodium spice packet is not used in it, thank heavens. Everyone enjoys this salad.

Oriental Cole Slaw

1 Napa cabbage (looks like a large endive)
1 bunch green onions

2 pkg oriental flavoured roman noodles, crushed finely (throw out the seasoning packet)
1/4 lb margarine or butter
3-4 oz sliced almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds.

1/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar

Clean and chop the napa and onions and refrigerate.

In saucepan, brown the dried noodles in margarine. Add almonds and sesame seeds and stir constantly until browned.

Put the dressing ingredients in a small saucepan and cook until slightly thickened (15 minutes).

Combine some noodles and nuts with cabbage and toss with some dressing.

There is enough of the nut mixture and dressing for a couple of salads. Dressing keeps for several weeks in the frig, and I freeze the leftover nut mixture.

I LOVE them!!!!! and no....too many calories for a snack...but for a meatless meal-one bowl sprinkled with chopped green onions and I'm stuffed! A cup of noodles is a great lunch or when backpacking/camping they weight almost nothing!

I buy the fresh ones from the refrigerated section and flash-steam them. I skip the seasoning packet and add fresh herbs and my own salt-free seasoning. That way, they are no worse for you than any other pasta and I like the texture.

Also, be aware that they are extremely high in MSG--so don't serve them to anyone who is sensitive to that dangerous, unnecessary food additive.

Yes, I do eat them myself from time to time, but I put just a pinch of the seasoning mix (I don't do well with MSG, myself) into the noodles.

I love them, too. But, because of their extremely high fat and salt content, I rarely have them,

I have them maybe twice a year as a quick lunch. Very tasty! Didn't realize they have 7 grams of fat. I use them in a couple of stir fry recipe (noodles only) in place of the rice. Hmm.. might be good with Kaths cabbage and soy recipe.

I love them. If I make them I add very little of the seasoning and season them myself. Usually with garlic powder and hoison sauce (the sauce all the pho restaurants have). I add a small can of mushrooms and sometimes tofu or another green veggie.

I have recently discovered Asian Ramen packets in the "ethnic" aisle of the grocery store. It's a little more expensive but much less fat and sodium.

Once in a GREAT while I'll make this for lunch, using about a quarter of the seasoning.

What I really like are those thin, glistening, see-through noodles -- Thai?

I use them dry and crunched up in an oriental cabbage salad. Yum. But when there is left over salad for lunch the next day, if I save the noodles, they become mushy because they have absorbed all the salad dressing overnight.

Oh, great. Now I'm hungry for ramen noodles. Thanks a lot. LOL

I'll have to check out the Asian market the next time I'm in town. Maybe they'll have the healthier ones like Jenn found.

I too use them for the Oriental cole slaw but one would have to pay me a bunch for me eat them any other way!

College students tell me that if you add fresh veggies and just half the season packet, they are pretty good. That season packet is just full of things that aren't good for you. Mostly sodium.

Oh man, you just rained on my parade! Just kidding, I saw how much sodium and fat they have, I only use about half the packet but the flavors in it are mostly curry and salt. I think I will try them made with my own curry and sea salt, I do eat them only as a meal, which is why I add the veggies.

Thanks all for the options!

Chisue, those are cellophane noodles you are looking for. Those are yummy too!

I think the noodles are fried, too. :)

I think it was Jodi/CA that posted somewhat recently on the topic of Ramen noodles, admitting that @ one time she was "addicted" to them. She would drop an egg into the boiling noodles & it would be like a poached egg. Seemed like a strange addiction to me. I mean... it wasn't chocolate, so how can that be addictive? LOL.... So.... daringly, I tried it..... & LOVED it. Since I had been forewarned of the addiction potential, I tread very lightly. I've vowed not to get myself into Jodi's predicament. But I could sooo relate to her wanting that for lunch every day! LOL

"Why has no one told me about Ramen Noodles before?"

You never asked.

Ramen noodles are basic noodles with flavorings, some artifical, and a lot of salt. I like them too, but restrict the number of times I have those due to the salt load and heavy on carbohydrate. This soup can be improved and the salt load toned down by adding other things that carry in no to little salt. For example, the chicken flavored noodles have very little chicken. Adding a small can of chicken breasts or dicing a couple slices of turkey meat adds body. Another addition is frozen peas and diced carrots. I do not add frozen vegtables containing green beans. It ruins the flavor for me, but that is just a personal preference. you may like it.

Check the label. You'll find that different flavors carry differeing salt loads. Many are very high.

For the beef and chicken flavors, some folks add V8 tomato juice to the mix.

I crush the noodles and add them to salads, throw out the seasoning pack. Yes, too much sodium for me!

I have never ever eaten them in my whole life(73years) i have bought them lots of times for my GS and dh,they also like those cup o soups and i've never eaten them either.Just didn't look good to me.MY GS is eating a lot of them again as he got laid off from his job awhile ago.He doesn't live close by,so i can't feed him.
kathi

"For the beef and chicken flavors, some folks add V8 tomato juice to the mix."

Oh gosh, that adds another 600-700 mg of sodium! LOL!!!

How could you have been here since Day-1 and not know about Ramen Noodles and that they were Bonnie Granny's Grandson, Griffs favorite thing to eat? I think about him everytime I eat or see them! lol

They are on the top 10 list of unhealthy things we eat.

You got it right BeeOhio, it was I who was addicted to ramen. Like an ex-alcoholic, I can tell you the exact day and hour I stopped. I've avoided this post so I wouldn't be tempted but I see the word ramen and it's all she wrote. LOL

And by the way ... I'm a freak of nature as I don't like chocolate. Whew, last thing I need is another addiction. :-)

Oh, and I forgot to mention ... toward the end of my addiction I was trying to cut back so I'd let the noodles soak for about 5 mins in half a packet of seasoning and then drain all the fluid away.

Jodi-

1/2 pack of chicken seasoning always....a little..Parkay...and then a dash or two of Texas Pete Hot Sauce.....a little handful of tortilla chips..and for those special occasions...a cabbage roll and sweet and sour sauce, nice! Dinner is ready!

Oh, I forgot the candles......and the bubbly!

Okay, I made the noodles and added peas and corn, then added curry and sea salt. It was okay, but I still added about a third of the packet for more seasoning. The curry has made it spicy, and really delicious!

Why in the world would you hold back the flavor pack because it contains salt, then add sea salt??

Contrary to the popular belief sea salt is not healthier. Salt is salt wether its table salt, sea salt, or rock salt.

In fact, a strong case could be made that table salt is healthier because sea salt is made by evaporating sea water while table salt is made from natural deposits of sea salt that evaporated millions of years ago. The difference is that when the natural salts were evaporated from the sea, the sea was not yet polluted like it is today and on top of that, table salt is generally fortified with iodine, an element that is vital to the body and found in very short supply in our diets.

But don't believe me, read what the Mayo Clinic has to say about salt.....

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sea-salt/AN01142

I cook just the noodles, add spaghetti sauce and enjoy! I only do this about twice a year, but it's very tasty! Once in a great while, I eat the shrimp flavor, but I can only eat about a half cup and I'm full.