Roasted Asparagus and Parmesan
This roasted asparagus and Parmesan is the recipe I turn to when I need a vegetable that feels dinner-party fancy but takes less time than setting the table.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Roasted Asparagus and Parmesan
- 🕰️ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- ⏰ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- 💛 Flavor Profile: Buttery-sweet, salty, and slightly nutty from the Parmesan.
- 🍽️ Good For: An easy vegetable side for even the busiest of evenings (try it alongside honey garlic chicken thighs, salmon fish sticks, or pasta with peas). Also makes a beautiful addition to any holiday table.
- 🧡 Difficulty: Easy-peasy, as long as you don't overcook the asparagus!
"Made this last night and everyone loved it. So easy and delicious."
- SCOTT ON PINTEREST -
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🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Hiya, friend: When asparagus is fresh and sweet during the spring season, it's hard to mess it up! I find myself tossing spears on a sheet pan for a trip to the oven at least once a week when asparagus is in season-it is just too good to resist. Let's get cooking!
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- My favorite vegetable magic trick: Roasting vegetables is like waving a magic wand over your produce turning them caramelized and heavenly. If you think you don't like a veggie, you might just need to roast it (see also: how to roast beets in the oven and this crispy Brussel sprouts recipe!)
- Six ingredients: You only need a handful of ingredients for this recipe, and two of those are salt and pepper. You likely have most of them in your pantry already!
- Weeknight suitable: The prep and cook time together adds up to a whopping 15 minutes, letting you whip up a side for your brown sugar chicken thighs, tortellini soup, salmon patties, or whatever quick weeknight dinner you have going on, in a snap.
🧀 The Ingredients You Need
- Asparagus: The very bottom of asparagus stalks are often fibrous and tough. To remove the woody ends of the asparagus, use a chef's knife to cut off the bottom inch or two. You can also snap the stalk, as it will naturally break where the soft stalk ends and the woody part begins. However, you'll lose a lot of edible asparagus with this method, so I prefer cutting it instead.
- Grated Parmesan: You'll get the best flavor from grating a wedge of Parmesan yourself. But if that's out of budget, the canned stuff will work as well.
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Variations & Substitutions
- Add potatoes: Want to stretch your asparagus a little further? Try my oven-roasted potatoes and asparagus to get a little more bang for your vegetable buck.
- Change up the cheese: Instead of Parmesan, try this asparagus with Gruyère, pecorino Romano, or Asiago. Using any of them will be like giving your roasted asparagus a salty, cheesy shower to bring out the flavor!
- Give it some juice: Squeeze a wedge of lemon over the finished dish to add a bright punch of citrus flavor that contrasts nicely with the roasted asparagus and Parmesan.
- Dip it: Make a quick lemon aioli by whisking some homemade mayo with some extra lemon juice and garlic powder for the best asparagus drizzle or dip.
- Make it a meal: Make it a whole meal by roasting the asparagus alongside some salmon, as in my sheet pan salmon recipe.
🥣 Roasted Asparagus and Parmesan How-To
Step 1: Trim the asparagus and drizzle it with olive oil, tossing the veggies to make sure that every stalk gets a little oil bath.
Step 2: Season the asparagus with the garlic, salt, and pepper, and spread it out on a baking sheet. I like to line mine with parchment paper for easier clean-up! Keep your asparagus in a single layer and don't overcrowd the pan, or you'll end up with steamed asparagus instead of roasted.
Step 3: Roast at 425°F for 6-8 minutes. The sweet spot is when the tips start to blister and brown but before the stalks slump in on themselves.
Step 4: Shower the asparagus with Parmesan. Serve warm.
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🙋🏻♀️ Roasted Asparagus and Parmesan FAQs
If your roasted asparagus is mushy or overly soft, it is probably overcooked. That's why you want to roast it at a high temperature for a short amount of time-that will give you a crisp-tender roasted vegetable side dish. Keep a close eye on those veggies, because asparagus cooks fast. It can go from crunchy to overcooked faster than you'd think!
You'll lose a decent amount of edible asparagus if you snap the ends off the asparagus...cut off the woody parts instead to get the most out of your veggies!
Ideally, you should cook the asparagus on the same day you prep it. Otherwise, it has a tendency to get wilted and overly soft. Once roasted, store asparagus in the refrigerator in an airtight container for three to five days.
👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- No need to blanch: While some recipes call for you to blanch the asparagus before roasting, all of my testing has shown that it's unnecessary. Save yourself some time and some dirty dishes and just go straight to roasting.
- Cut the ends: While Elle Woods may love a "bend and snap," I don't recommend it for asparagus because you'll lose a lot of good asparagus that way! Use a sharp knife to cut off the bottom 1-2" of the stalks instead.
- Keep close watch: Asparagus goes from "perfectly cooked" to "overcooked mush" in a flash. Keep an eye on the oven to make sure you don't overcook it! You'll know your asparagus is done when the outside is crisp-tender and beginning to brown. It should bend easily without being floppy. If in doubt, it is better to err on the side of underdone-asparagus that spends too long in the oven can be mushy!
💚 More Roasted Vegetable Recipes:
If you tried this roasted asparagus and Parmesan or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh asparagus
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced (or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Trim 1 pound fresh asparagus. Drizzle 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over the asparagus, and toss to coat evenly.
- Sprinkle 1 garlic clove, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper over the asparagus, and toss.
- Spread the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes
- Sprinkle the asparagus with 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese. Serve warm.
Notes
- You can snap or cut the woody, fibrous ends off the asparagus. I've tested both ways countless times, and while snapping is satisfying, it wastes a surprising amount of edible asparagus.
- When in doubt, err on the side of undercooking your asparagus. I promise you'll enjoy it more if it is a little crunchy than if it is total mush!
Roasting is my absolute favorite way to prepare so many "unpopular" vegetables. The caramelized flavors, the crispy browned spots...this roasted asparagus is a great example!