If I had to pick one spring veggie that I love the most, it would hands-down be asparagus! It is such a versatile veggie - so vibrant and green! Roast it in the oven, sauté it on the stove, grill it, or shave it raw into a salad or on pizza-for a fresh, vibrant spring bite. Easy to cook at home, here are our favorite ways to serve it up!
Jump to the recipe card for the easiest roasted asparagus recipe that turns out perfect every single time. Our most popular asparagus recipe on the blog is our Asparagus Risotto, another one not to be missed!
Table of Contents
Asparagus Salad Recipes
Fennel Asparagus Salad
Did you know that raw asparagus is one of the healthiest things we can feed our gut? This Fennel Asparagus Salad with Almonds and Lemony Leek Dressing is vegan, can be made ahead, and is a perfect side to fish, chicken or tofu. One of our fall-time favorite salads on the blog.
Spring Pasta Salad with Asparagus & Mushrooms
This Spring Pasta Salad with asparagus & mushrooms and Lemony parsley dressing is so tasty- perfect for spring gatherings or potlucks!
Quinoa Asparagus Salad (aka Spring Tabouli)
We’ve reinvented Tabouli to make it a little more spring-friendly! This Spring Tabbouleh Salad with Quinoa and Asparagus can be made with your choice of spring veggies, infused with fresh dill, lemon, sliced almonds and crumbly goat or feta (optional). A healthy, flavorful side dish that can be made ahead- perfect for barbecues, potlucks and outdoor gatherings.
Asparagus Salad with olives, lemon and Israeli Couscous
Spring Asparagus Salad with Israeli Couscous, kalamata olives, pine nuts mint, and feta in a lemony dressing.
Easy Asparagus Side Dish Recipes
Szchecuan Asparagus Stir Fry
This Szechuan Asparagus is one of our favorite ways to cook asparagus! Fast, easy and full of so much flavor. Vegan!
oven-Roasted Asparagus
This baked asparagus recipe is our go-to. Drizzle asparagus spears with a little olive oil, salt, black pepper and lemon zest, and roast it in the oven until perfectly tender-crisp. Keep it vegan, or sprinkle it with parmesan cheese; it’s up to you! Fast and easy.
Sauteed Asparagus
Sauteed asparagus is a healthy easy side dish perfect for spring! Tender spears are cooked in olive oil with salt, pepper, and lemon. Simple yet vibrant! Vegan.
Grilled Asparagus
Grilled Asparagus is one of the easiest, fastest, and tastiest ways to cook asparagus in under 15 minutes! Serve it over a vegan hollandaise sauce with red pepper flakes!
Asparagus For Dinner
In these dinner recipes, asparagus takes center stage! We love asparagus so much that we often feature it in the main dish.
Pasta Primavera
This light and creamy pasta primavera makes the perfect spring dinner! Tender pasta and spring vegetables are kissed with a light cream sauce infused with lemon and herbs.
Salmon & Roasted Asparagus with Creamy Dill Sauce
Asparagus and Salmon just belong together, don’t they? They also take roughly the same amount of time to roast on a baking sheet- a total win! This Roasted Salmon with Asparagus and Dill Sauce is a simple, easy sheet-pan dinner that comes together in 30 minutes yet feels like a feast.
Orzo Pasta with Asparagus
This orzo recipe is a delicious spring meal! An easy dinner under 30 minutes, packed with asparagus, and bright lemon flavor.
Tarragon Chicken with Baked Asparagus
Another favorite spring meal- weeknight dinners really don’t get any easier than this! This Tarragon Chicken with Roasted Asparagus, Lemon, and Leeks is fast, easy, and healthy with minimal clean-up.
Asparagus Risotto
OH MY GOODNESS! This Lemony Asparagus Risotto with leeks and basil is so flavorful! It’s light and creamy, with vibrant spring color. Top it with grilled mushrooms, fish or chicken for a delicious spring dinner!
Fennel Crusted Halibut with Creamy Asparagus Sauce
Ok, here’s a fancy dinner that is perfect for date night. Fennel Crusted Halibut is pan-seared then placed atop the most luscious, creamy Asparagus Sauce. The asparagus sauce can be made ahead! Serve it up with spring veggies.
Baked Cod with Asparagus, Lemon, Garlic & Thyme
Need a simple elegant one-pan dinner idea? This Baked Cod with Asparagus Stalks, Fennel and Leeks is simple and easy- perfect for busy nights! Serve it on its own or over a bowl of creamy polenta.
Charred Asparagus Pasta with Lemony Cannellini Beans
This healthy vegan pasta recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes! Charred Asparagus Kale Pasta with a creamy Cannellini Bean Leek Sauce- try it, we think you’ll love it!
Asparagus Tart with Chives, Tarragon and Gruyere
This Asparagus Tart with tarragon, chives and gruyere may look fancy- but it is deceivingly simple! An easy elegant dish, serve it as lunch, appetizer, or call it a meal – perfect for a special occasion. Under 30 minutes of hands-on time!
Creamy Asparagus Soup
This vibrant green Creamy Asparagus soup with fennel and tarragon contains so much spring goodness! Plus, it just makes me happy, just looking at it. That color! A delicious start to a meal, or make it the meal! Vegan adaptable.
Lemony Shrimp and Asparagus Skillet
We love how fast and easy this shrimp-and-asparagus skillet dinner is! Infused with Lemon and Basil, it is a delicious and healthy skillet meal that can be made in just 15 minutes! Low-carb and GF.
Asparagus Stir-Fry
This simple, flavorful Asparagus Stir-Fry is loaded with tofu and mushrooms in a simple sauce, with your choice of protein. It can be made in 20 minutes flat! Keep it vegan with crispy tofu, or add chicken or shrimp!
Asparagus FAQs
Asparagus is a tender veggie that cooks quickly. We find that short cooking methods work best to preserve asparagus’s color and crispness. Quick roasting, grilling, stir-frying, or lightly sauteeing until tender-crisp elevates asparagus.
Asparagus has a clean, green, grassy flavor that tastes of spring.
We love pairing asparagus with salmon, chicken and Asian flavors. Spring herbs like tarragon really elevate asparagus.
Don’t overcook asparagus or you will lose its lovely color, snappy texture and vibrancy. Don’t forget to remove the tough fibrous woody ends of the asparagus.
If asparagus seems limp or dry, with a sharp knife, cut off 1/2 inch of the root end, and submerge ends in a jar of cold water to revive and place this in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. They will perk right up!
How to Store Asparagus
To preserve its crispness, either store it in an airtight container with a damp paper towel wrapped around the base or store asparagus in a mason jar with an inch of water in the fridge, covered.
Pick out a few Asparagus Recipes to try out when asparagus starts showing up in your local area- typically April- June!
Enjoy these let us know your favorites below!
xoxo
More recipe collections you may like:
- 20 Best Quinoa Recipes
- 25 BEST Salmon Recipes!
- 40 Easy Healthy Dinner Ideas
- 25 BEST Lentil Recipes!
- 20+ Best Zucchini Recipes!
Asparagus Risotto Video
20 Best Asparagus Recipes: Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 22
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish, vegetables
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Asparagus is one of our favorite spring veggies! Roast it in the oven and serve it as a healthy side dish; fold it into stir-fries, sautees, or pasta; turn it into a lovely soup or risotto, or shave it raw into a salad-it is easy to cook at home! (Oven-baked asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
- lemon zest from one lemon
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish: a squeeze of lemon, fresh herbs, optional parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Trim asparagus: Hold one spear of asparagus in your hand, and with your fingers snap off the rough end. Note where it naturally breaks. Use this as a guide to trim the remaining asparagus, laying it next to the others. Cut the remaining spears to match this length.
- Toss the trimmed asparagus in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, salt & pepper.
- Lay spears out in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Roast until just tender (yet still vibrant green), about 15-25 minutes, depending on size and thickness, tossing halfway through.
- Once tender squeeze with lemon juice, and give a good toss. Taste for salt, adding more if needed.
- Place in a serving dish and garnish with any of the optional garnishes.
Notes
Serve the roasted asparagus as a side dish, or cut and add to salads, pasta salads, etc.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: with 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- Calories: 127
- Sugar: 3.5 g
- Sodium: 294.6 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.3 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
We tried the walnut chorizo nachos this weekend. We’re hooked! Absolutely delicious!!!!
My son in law is going to use the walnut chorizo in his veg breakfast burritos.
I am going to try it on “Amish Haystack.”
Thank you for sharing that recipe!
Glad you gave it a try Rebecca!
Hi! Love every single one of your recipes, I’ve been following and using them almost every week for years now and cannot tell you how grateful I am that they have helped me eat healthier.
One thing I wanted to note — I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this, but the amount of ads and automatic videos that pop up on each page take so much power that it forces my web page to re-load like every 2 minutes. Like while I’m actively trying to cook in my kitchen and follow your recipes, my computer slows down and takes forever to re-load the page. It just makes it really hard to use and sometimes I give up on looking for new recipes on your blog because of it. I just wanted to let you know because I love the site so much and want to be able to use it, but this presents a pretty significant user barrier and I can’t imagine that I’m the only one
Thanks Caroline! I appreciate this. It sounds like maybe you need to update your browser? Or try a different browser. Safari doesnt not work well anymore with the site. Could you try Chrome? The ads on the site have not increased, they have decreased.
As always your recipes are easy to follow and delicious. I wondered if you also have recipes for white asparagus. In Europe they are very popular. Even that this kind requires more preparation time and skills (peeling) 😀
I will look for some! It is harder to find here…
Hi Sylvia,
I want to tell you that I love all your recipes and I am super grateful to receive them in my inbox. I have made so many of them and never am I disappointed. They are always fabulous. You are amazing and I am forever grateful!! Thank you for the asparagus recipes today – yum.
Thanks Maura!