Simple Garlic Roasted Asparagus

This roasted asparagus recipe is a simple, fast side dish. The asparagus is perfectly tender with slightly crispy tips. Served with our five minute garlic herb sauce, it’s deliciously garlicky, fresh, and vegetarian. Jump to the Garlic Roasted Asparagus Recipe or read on to see our tips.

This roasted asparagus recipe is a simple, fast side dish. The asparagus is perfectly tender with slightly crispy tips.

We’re sharing this garlic roasted asparagus in the spirit of simplicity. We all need more quick and delicious side dishes in our life and this garlicky asparagus hits both notes. The asparagus takes 10 to 20 minutes to roast (depending on how thick the stems are) and the sauce only requires 5 minutes of your time and can even be made days in advance.

A few more easy side dishes we’ve shared lately include this 10 minute bok choy, our garlic butter sautéed zucchini, and this lemon garlic sautéed cabbage recipe.

How to Buy and Store Asparagus

Asparagus tastes best when it is fresh. Look for firm, sturdy stems with bright green or purple spears (the tips). Thickness does not indicate freshness and you can use our recipe for roasted asparagus with thick or thin stems. If you do end up with thicker stems, you might consider quickly peeling them before roasting since the thicker stems tend to be a bit more tough. Peeling deals with this, though.

When it comes to storing asparagus, we’ve got two options for you:

  • Trim the bottom ends and wrap them with a clean, damp dish towel or paper towel. Place into a resealable bag or container and refrigerate up to three days.
  • Trim the bottom ends, and then treat the asparagus like fresh flowers. Add a little water to a jar or small vase and place the asparagus cut ends down. Cover the tops with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator up to three days.

Prepping Asparagus

Asparagus is one of the simplest vegetables to prepare for cooking (especially when you are planning to roast it). I like to do two things before cooking asparagus:

  1. Trim the dry, woody bottoms. I simply slice 1/2-inch to 1-inch off the bottom of each stalk. Just cut the drier looking white part away. If you’re lucky and grew your own or purchased from a farmer’s market, the stalks might need a bit more taken off the bottom. To find out, bend the stalks to see where the stalk naturally wants to snap in two. Snap or cut at that point and move onto cooking.
  2. For thicker asparagus stalks, I peel the outer layer, which can be a little stringy. A vegetable peeler makes quick work of this. If you have thin stalks, skip this step.
How to Prep Asparagus -- Peeling the stems.

Our No-Fail Method for Roasting Asparagus

Roasted asparagus is ridiculously simple. In this version, we roast the asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh garlic. You can always bump up the flavor profile with more spices like ginger, lemongrass, chili powder, and other spice blends.

To roast asparagus, simply toss it with a little oil, seasonings, and the garlic. Spread the stalks on a baking sheet, making sure they are all in one layer. Roast them in the oven (I like a 400°F oven) until the tips are a little crispy and the stems are tender. A simple check is to pierce a stem with a fork. If it slides in easily, the asparagus is done!

This roasted asparagus is a simple, fast side dish. The asparagus is perfectly tender with slightly crispy tips.  Served with our five minute garlic herb sauce, it's deliciously garlicky, fresh, and vegetarian.

Try Our Optional Garlic Herb Tahini Sauce

One of the more classic ways to serve asparagus is with hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is a rich sauce made with egg yolks and butter. It’s delicious, but not something we make at home very often.

Instead of hollandaise, we go with our garlic herb tahini sauce. I love this sauce with just about anything, but it is absolutely amazing drizzled over garlic roasted asparagus. We’ve even served it on the side and used it as a dip for the asparagus. The sauce is plant-based, vegan, and delicious. It also lasts in the fridge for 5 days, so we highly recommend making a batch!

This sauce is an extra herby version of our dreamy tahini sauce (click for a video showing how to make it). We make the sauce with homemade tahini. You can buy your own tahini, but if you have sesame seeds on hand, you won’t believe how simple it is!

This roasted asparagus is a simple, fast side dish. The asparagus is perfectly tender with slightly crispy tips.  Served with our five minute garlic herb sauce, it's deliciously garlicky, fresh, and vegetarian.

More Asparagus Recipes To Try

Simple Garlic Roasted Asparagus

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

This roasted asparagus recipe is a simple, fast side dish. The asparagus is perfectly tender with slightly crispy tips. Served with our five minute garlic herb sauce, it’s deliciously garlicky, fresh, and vegetarian.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

You Will Need

Garlic Roasted Asparagus

2 pounds asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 medium cloves)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

4 thin lemon slices, halved, optional

Garlic Herb Tahini Sauce

1/3 cup (80 ml) well stirred tahini, try our homemade tahini recipe

1 garlic clove minced very finely into a paste or use a microplane, see note

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch fine sea salt

3 to 6 tablespoons lukewarm water

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions

  • Roast Asparagus
  • 1Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204°C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

    2Break off or slice the tough ends of the asparagus. If the asparagus is thick, peel them (see notes).

    3Place the asparagus onto the baking sheet, and then toss with the olive oil, garlic, a generous pinch of salt, and a generous pinch of black pepper. Spread the asparagus out so that they are in one layer. Nestle the lemon slices around the asparagus. Roast until tender, 10 to 20 minutes depending on how thick they are. If you can pierce them with a fork, they are done.

    4Serve alone or alongside the garlic herb tahini sauce which can be drizzled over the roasted asparagus or used as a dipping sauce.

  • Garlic Herb Tahini Sauce
  • 1Garlic herb tahini sauce can be made up to 5 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

    2Whisk tahini, garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil and the salt in a bowl until combined — the mixture will thicken, don’t worry about this. Add the water, a tablespoon at a time and whisking well after each addition until desired consistency. For a dip, look for the consistency of thin peanut butter. For a sauce to drizzle over the asparagus, add enough water until the consistency of runny yogurt.

    3Stir in the herbs. Taste for seasoning and adjust with additional salt or lemon juice.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • For thicker asparagus stalks, we peel the outer layer, which can be a little stringy. A vegetable peeler makes quick work of this. If you have thin stalks, skip this step.
  • This sauce is an extra herby version of our dreamy tahini sauce (click for a video showing how to make it). We make the sauce with homemade tahini. You can buy your own tahini, but if you have sesame seeds on hand, you won’t believe how simple it is!
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/6 of the asparagus + 1 tablespoon sauce / Calories 130 / Total Fat 9.5g / Saturated Fat 1.4g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 125mg / Carbohydrate 9.2g / Dietary Fiber 4.2g / Total Sugars 2.9g / Protein 5.4g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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2 comments… Leave a Review
  • Raquel May 16, 2023, 7:40 pm

    I tried this recipe without any substitutions. I used a nutribullet to blend the garlic herb tahini sauce. This recipe was delicious!

    Reply
  • Vox Pbx.Com March 11, 2020, 6:04 pm

    Simple, elegant, healthy. What more could you want from a side dish? For a prettier presentation, you can trim the thorns from the asparagus with a vegetable peeler. Parve Non-gebrokts

    Reply

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