All of my best tips for how to roast asparagus, plus ideas for roasted asparagus seasonings, sauces and more!
‘Tis the season for one of my favorite springtime dishes — roasted asparagus! ♡
We make roasted asparagus as often as possible in our house while it is in season. And love serving it as a healthy side dish, or chopping it up and adding it to everything from pastas to salads, soups, risottos, frittatas, grain bowls, and more.
Most of the time, I love keeping my roasted asparagus super-basic and make it simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. But I have included lots of options below for extra seasonings and sauces that you are welcome to add too. Plus, tips for how to select the best fresh asparagus at the store, how to trim off those pesky tough ends, and how to store roasted asparagus if you happen to have leftovers (lol, we never do in our house).
Alright, let’s make some roasted asparagus, friends!
Oven Roasted Asparagus Ingredients:
To make basic roasted asparagus, you will need four simple ingredients:
- Fresh Asparagus: In general, you want to look for fresh asparagus at the store that is brightly colored (not faded), with plump and green stalks (not wilty), and with the ends tightly closed (not loose). Asparagus spears can range in thickness, so there’s no right or wrong answer when choosing thick or thin asparagus — it’s whichever you prefer (and whichever is available)! The important thing is just that the tough ends be trimmed off before roasting. To know where to trim, just bend the bottom half of an asparagus stalk until it naturally snaps in two. You can use this spot as a guide, and then use a knife to chop off the rest of the bunch around the same spot.
- Olive oil: Or your preferred cooking oil.
- Fine sea salt: To bring out all of that delicious asparagus flavor.
- Freshly-cracked black pepper: For seasoning.
How To Make Roasted Asparagus:
Alright, let’s talk about how to roast asparagus in the oven! My favorite method is simply to…
- Heat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare asparagus. Arrange the asparagus on the baking sheet in an even layer. Drizzle evenly with the olive oil, then briefly toss the asparagus so that it is evenly coated in the oil. Sprinkle evenly with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.
- Roast. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the asparagus reach your desired level of tenderness. (Cook time will vary depending on the thickness of your asparagus spears.)
- Serve. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper, if needed. Then serve immediately and enjoy! Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Possible Variations:
There are countless ways that you can season your roasted asparagus, if you would like! For example, feel free to…
- Add dry seasoning: The sky’s really the limit when it comes to dry seasoning blends that you can use with roasted asparagus, so feel free to get creative! I’m especially partial to tossing mine with a teaspoon or two of Italian seasoning, Cajun seasoning, Ranch seasoning, or — my favorite — roasted asparagus with everything bagel seasoning.
- Add lemon juice: I also love drizzling on some freshly-squeezed lemon juice just before serving.
- Add Parmesan: Feel free to sprinkle on freshly-grated Parmesan either before or after roasting your asparagus.
- Add balsamic vinegar: You can also toss the asparagus in a tablespoon of balsamic before baking. Or reduce the balsamic to form a balsamic glaze, and drizzle it on the roasted asparagus just before serving.
- Add a finishing sauce: Any number of sauces would also be delicious drizzled on the asparagus just before serving, such as hollandaise, honey mustard, romesco, or even just browned butter.
- Wrap it in prosciutto: To make little prosciutto-wrapped asparagus bundles, simply wrap 3 to 5 asparagus spears in a thin layer of prosciutto. Place the bundles on your baking sheet and bake for an extra 1-2 minutes, until the asparagus reaches your desired level of doneness.
More Favorite Roasted Vegetable Recipes:
Looking for more ways to roast veggies? Here are a few of my favorite roasted vegetables recipes:
- Roasted Broccoli
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Roasted Butternut Squash
- Roasted Artichokes
- Baked Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2-4 servings 1x
Description
My go-to method for classic roasted asparagus. See suggestions above for extra seasonings and sauces that you can add too!
Ingredients
- 1 pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare asparagus. Arrange the asparagus on the baking sheet in an even layer. Drizzle evenly with the olive oil, then briefly toss the asparagus so that it is evenly coated in the oil. Sprinkle evenly with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.
- Roast. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the asparagus reach your desired level of tenderness. (Cook time will vary depending on the thickness of your asparagus spears.)
- Serve. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper, if needed. Then serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Storage instructions: Cooked roasted asparagus can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. (To freeze roasted asparagus, I recommend doing an initial freeze for 1-2 hours on the baking sheet itself, with the asparagus spread out in an even layer so that it does not freeze in one large clump. Then you can remove the frozen asparagus and bundle it into a freezer bag or storage container and freeze until ready to use.)
Love all the recipes they are so easy to follow.
Thank you!
Made this recipe many times and occasionally toss in some toasted slivered almonds. So tasty.
Enjoyed this very much, although tried it in a toaster oven so it took a bit more time! but I liked that it retained crunchiness. Added some balsamic vinegar on your suggestion – so yum!
My fave lately is basically tuis exact method sans salt but with olive oil, lots of fresh cracked pepper and soy sauce. A drizzle of both, spun a bit with rings to distribute evenly and sometimes a bit of shredded parm on top, or not. A little squeeze of lemon after to brighten is nice but not necessarily needed. Always a lovely side.
Roasted asparagus is one of my favorite weeknight sides! We’ll have to try your recipe soon!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com