How to Cook Asparagus

Asparagus is a delectable addition to any meal, especially when the spears are in season. Both delicate and versatile, the springtime stalk takes well to many cooking methods. So here's how to choose, store, and prepare asparagus for any dish you can dream up. And my chef's tips for seven popular cooking methods.

The Story

Asparagus is a fun, flavorful, and unique addition to any meal. Late winter to early summer is the peak season for asparagus (but you can find them nearly year-round). The spears pair well with any meat or fish and add beautiful color to pasta and grain recipes. And regardless of how you cook them, the aromatic vegetable is earthy, slightly bitter, and subtly sweet.

Storing & Cleaning

To keep asparagus as fresh as possible, trim half of an inch to an inch off the bottoms (leaving the spears tied together makes cutting easier). Then stand the asparagus upright in shallow water like flowers in a vase. A jar or cup takes up minimal real estate in the refrigerator. Aim for a water level that comes no more than a quarter of the way up the stems.

You can also wrap asparagus in damp paper towels and seal them in a plastic bag or plastic wrap. Clean asparagus when you bring it home, or right before you cook it. Simply rinse asparagus under cold water to remove any lingering soil and pat it dry.

Trimming

Unless you are cooking asparagus spears as thin as pencils, trimming the woody ends is a good idea. Even with slimmer spears, I slice an inch or so off of the bottoms. It evens out the lengths and removes the woody base. Because no matter what we're eating, we do so with our eyes first.

To trim a thicker bunch, I like the natural snap method. Hold one spear at the very bottom and slightly above the center. Then bend it in half until it snaps naturally. Last, line up the snapped spear next to the rest, and cut them all to the same length.

On The Methods

If you want to enjoy asparagus as close to its natural state as possible, steam your spears. It's the best way to preserve any vegetable's nutritional value. With boiling, water-soluble vitamins will dissolve into the cooking liquid. And roasting at high temperatures will degrade heat-sensitive nutrients. But roasting or air-frying sure does create sweet, rich, complex flavors (it's how I typically cook asparagus for clients).

And the higher the heat and the longer the asparagus cooks, the sweeter, crispier, and more tender it will be. Roasting and grilling will caramelize the plant sugars in the asparagus. This chemical process is called the Maillard reaction. And it's what makes golden brown foods so delicious. Wet cooking methods like steaming and boiling won't produce this reaction.

• Steaming
• Boiling
• Blanching
• Roasting
• Pan-Roasting or Sautéing
• Grilling
• Air frying (convection cooking)

One cooking method I don't recommend for asparagus is broiling. Many home oven broilers heat unevenly and are unreliable. The space between the coils or gas heat source can lead to inconsistent results.

Steaming

With any cooking venture, I hesitate to give exact times and question anyone who claims to know them. Every appliance is different. And no one vegetable is an exact clone of another. How long a thinner bunch of asparagus cooks in my steamer, will be different from the cooking time of your thicker, more fibrous stalks.

So when steaming asparagus, begin checking the smallest stalk around the four-minute mark. Then check every few minutes after that by removing and tasting one.

1. Prepare your steamer. Bring three to four inches of water to a simmer over medium-high heat in a large pot. Set your steaming basket inside of it.
2. Lay the asparagus in a single layer. Spread the trimmed and/or peeled asparagus out as much as possible in the basket or even a colander that fits inside the pot (but stays above the water).
3. Steam until fork tender. Cover the pot (foil is my favorite lid), and steam the asparagus until they are fork-tender. Add more water if necessary to maintain the desired level. Begin checking thinner asparagus after four or five minutes for doneness by biting into one. Thicker stalks can take up to ten minutes.

Boiling

Boiling is not the sexiest cooking method. But it gets the job done with minimal time and effort. Stay close to the pot when boiling, especially with delicate vegetables like asparagus. Young, tender spears can turn to mush in a matter of moments.

1. Boil the water. Bring a medium-to-large pot full of water to a boil. The water will boil faster if you cover the pot.
2. Salt the water well. Add a least two or three healthy pinches of salt to the boiling water. This is your only chance to season the inside of the spears. The salt will dissolve in the water, which passes through the asparagus as it cooks.
3. Boil until the spears are tender to the bite. For super skinny stalks, begin checking after a couple of minutes. For thicker spears, begin checking after four minutes.
4. Check for doneness and drain. To check if boiled asparagus is cooked, remove one, run it under cold water, and bite into it. If the bite makes you happy, drain the asparagus using a colander or mesh strainer. You can also remove the whole asparagus from the pot with tongs a few at a time.

Blanching

Blanching is simply adding a step after a quick boil by dropping the vegetable into ice water. This cools the asparagus quickly and prevents carryover cooking. Submerging freshly-boiled vegetables in ice water also preserves their bright color.

Aim for an ice bath that's about equal parts water and ice.

1. Set up the ice bath. Prepare an ice bath in a medium to large mixing bowl. Use plenty of ice, and add enough water just to cover it.
2. Boil the asparagus for one to three minutes. Traditionally, blanched vegetables are cooked just enough and still maintain a bite to them. But cook the asparagus to your preferred tenderness.
3. Transfer the asparagus to the ice bath. Immediately transfer the hot spears to the ice bath using tongs (or drain them with a colander then drop them in). You can set a strainer inside the ice bath so you don't have to go fishing out every single stalk.
4. Chill for no more than five minutes. A brief stint in the ice bath is all that's needed. Too long of a swim and you risk a water-logged side dish.
5. To reheat and serve. Reheat blanched asparagus briefly in a sauté pan over medium heat with a bit of butter or cooking oil, then season with salt and fresh herbs and serve. Blanched, or par-cooked, asparagus is suited to a variety of dishes, including quiche.

How to Roast

Roasting asparagus is best done at higher temperatures between 375° F and 450° F. The more intense heat allows the sugars in the stalks to caramelize (brown). Baking technically refers to heating a homogenous mixture like cake batter in the oven, not meat or vegetables (the phrase "baked asparagus" is an amateur reference to roasting them). I recommend roasting asparagus at 400° F.

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven between 400° F and 425° F. Line a large baking pan with parchment or greased foil for easy clean-up.
2. Season and oil the asparagus. Toss your trimmed asparagus in a high-heat tolerant oil like avocado and season with plenty of salt and any other seasonings or dried spices. Spread the seasoned asparagus in one layer on the baking pan.
3. Roast until tender. Roast the asparagus until caramelized and tender, between 12 to 20 minutes. Shake the pan or toss the asparagus with tongs occasionally to encourage even cooking. Cover the pan with foil if the spears threaten to over-brown before the thickest part of the stems is tender. After about 10 minutes, sneak a spear out and taste it for tenderness. Continue checking for doneness every few minutes. All ovens heat differently, and no bunch of asparagus is the same. Cooking times will vary.
4. Serve immediately. Roasted asparagus is best served immediately. A final drizzle of vinaigrette, any form of cured pork, or hollandaise sauce makes for a showstopper of a side dish.

If you don't like your asparagus too caramelized or crispy, cook oiled and seasoned asparagus in a 350° F oven (about 160° C) until fork tender. The cooking time will be longer. So plan for 25 minutes, but begin checking the asparagus after 15 minutes. The asparagus will still brown, just not as much.

Pan-Roasting or Sautéing

Pan-roasting and sautéing are essentially the same cooking technique. To sauté or pan-roast any food is to cook it in a shallow pan with a thin coating of culinary fat. I love sautéing smaller pieces of peeled asparagus in brown butter for a nutty, crispy dish.

Choose spears on the thinner side for this method. With thicker stalks, you risk burning the outside before the center of the stems is tender.

1. Peel and trim the asparagus. For pan-roasting, you definitely want to peel away the more fibrous skin and trim the woody bottoms. Then slice them crosswise into one-inch or two-inch pieces. Begin slicing from the top down to preserve the delicate tips. I like to visualize the entire length in thirds, fourths, or fifths before I start slicing.
2. Heat the oil. Preheat your favorite cooking oil or ghee (clarified butter) in a large sauté pan over medium heat.

3. Cook in a single layer. Add the sliced asparagus and spread the pieces out evenly. Don't touch the asparagus for the first several minutes of cooking.
4. Toss and cook until tender. After the pieces begin to brown on the first side, shake the pan or use tongs to flip them. After you stir, let the pieces cook undisturbed again for a few minutes. Repeat this process until the thickest pieces are tender (taste to know).

5. Add water or stock, if necessary. If the spears are nicely browned but not tender, splash about a quarter of a cup of water or cooking stock in the pan. This will steam the asparagus as the liquid evaporates and accelerate the cooking process.
6. Add aromatics and seasonings. If you like, add a couple of tablespoons of minced shallots, onion, or garlic right at the end of cooking. Then continue to cook just until the aromatics soften and begin to brown.

Grilling

Grilling is a great way to caramelize the sugars in asparagus and get a crispy, sweet tender bite. Not to mention the beautiful char the grill grates imprint on the spears. Marinated, grilled asparagus is a knockout for a backyard barbecue if there ever was one.

1. Prepare your grill. Preheat your gas grill on high, or prepare your coals to be as hot as possible (but no longer flaming steadily).
2. Trim the asparagus. Use the natural snap method to break one spear in half. Then trim the rest to the same length. Coat the stalks with avocado or canola oil, and season generously but not excessively, with salt.
3. Clean and oil the grates. Scrape the grill grates clean with a grill brush. And rub on a high-heat oil like avocado with a dish rag (or use spray oil).
4. Grill until charred and tender. Grill the asparagus until evenly charred and tender to the bite. Flip the spears over once halfway through cooking, once the first side is deeply browned. Medium-thick stalks take about ten minutes to cook on a blazing hot grill.

Air Frying

Air frying (convection cooking) is a very quick way to roast and caramelize vegetables like asparagus. Especially for bacon-wrapped asparagus, an air fryer gets the bacon crispy and the asparagus tender in about half the time as an oven. If your oven has a convection setting, the process is the same.

1. Preheat the air fryer to 400° F. Even if your model claims it doesn't need to be preheated. It won't hurt and ensures the chamber and basket are piping hot when you add the asparagus.
2. Season and oil the asparagus. Trim, peel (if you like), and coat the asparagus in olive, avocado, or your favorite cooking oil. It can be helpful to trim the asparagus to slightly shorter than the width of the fryer basket. Season the spears with salt before you air fry them.
3. Air fry in a single layer. Place the spears in the fryer basket, leaving at least a tiny space between each spear (you may need to fry them in batches). Begin checking thinner spears after eight or ten minutes for doneness. Very thick stalks can take up to 15 minutes to become nice and fork-tender. Always taste one to know if they're done.

Seasoning Ideas

Fresh parsley, thyme, and oregano are easy to find and pair well with asparagus. But truly, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil is perfect for an in-season bunch.

• Bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto. For boiled or steamed asparagus, crisp small pieces of bacon or pancetta in a pan over medium heat, then toss them together. If roasting, sprinkle small pieces of bacon among the spears on the pan before roasting. Bacon-wrapped asparagus is a crowd-pleaser, and simple to execute in an air fryer or oven.
• Hollandaise. If you're in the mood for a little challenge, whip up a batch of hollandaise sauce. If you've never made it before, I explain how to make and fix broken hollandaise sauce here. Roasted asparagus smothered in hollandaise is a ketogenic dieter's delight.
• Quiche or frittata. Asparagus lend a lovely, earthy element and beautiful color to baked egg dishes. The spears should be blanched prior to joining the quiche or frittata batter.

What to Serve with Asparagus

Asparagus is a quick and easy side dish. Or it can be the star of the show when tossed into a rice dish or pasta like penne alla vodka. Both dry Reisling and buttery chardonnay are smashing wine pairings if the mood and night are right.

• Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken
• Herbed Sockeye Salmon
• Grilled Arctic Char
• Stuffed Pork Loin
• Cast Iron Roast Beef