Easy 3 ingredient oven roasted asparagus goes with almost any main dish. This recipe will give you tender, juicy asparagus spears that have just a hint of salt. The taste of spring is in every bite of this dish. This recipe is kosher, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten free.
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In our kitchen, this quick and easy oven roasted asparagus recipe shows up at least once per week. It is a versatile recipe that uses accessible ingredients and is super tasty. Most local grocery stores will have no shortage of asparagus during the peak season of March - August. This recipe is great as a side dish for Chicken Marsala or Slow Cooker BBQ Beef but can also be a nice snack on its own.
A Step by step guide to making Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus
Time needed: 15 minutes.
Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus step by step
- Separate the bottom from the top
Trim the asparagus by breaking off the bottoms. That's right, break them, no need for cutting. Asparagus is a unique vegetable in that it talks to you and tells you where to break off the inedible bottom part. Just grab the spear in two places near the bottom third and apply a little bit of pressure with each thumb. Magically, the asparagus will bend right where the hard part stops and the soft edible part begins.
- Snap!
After the bend exposes itself, put a little more pressure on each end until it snaps. Throw away the hard bottom. Repeat this for each asparagus spear.
- Clean
This recipe uses the most certain method of cleaning the asparagus for bugs which is to cut off the tips and then peel the triangular leaves from the sides with a potato peeler. For those unfamiliar with doing this, there are sometimes tiny insects that are living (or have lived) inside of the asparagus tip or under the triangular leaves along the sides. Jewish law forbids eating most insects and properly peeling the asparagus insures that we do not eat them. There are other methods of cleaning asparagus and one should consult their local rabbi or religious authority for more information.
- Olive Oil
Pour the olive oil over the top of the asparagus.
- Salt
Sprinkle the salt over the top of the oiled asparagus. Give the pan a little shake to make sure that all of the asparagus spears are coated with the oil and salt.
- Bake
Bake for 7 minutes in an oven heated to 400ºF. They will be sizzling when they come out and they will have a dark green color like this.
FAQ
Yes, you should always wash vegetables before eating them even if they are being roasted. Fresh vegetables can contain pesticides and other surface impurities that are best not cooked into your food. Also, organic vegetables that are pesticide free can contain small insects that should be rinsed away before roasting. This recipe uses a peeling method in addition to a rinse. There are many opinions on washing techniques to use for fresh produce and it is best to ask a local rabbi for advice on how to do this.
There are a few reasons that this could be happening. The most common is that you have bitten into one of the hard ends that should have been cut away. When you prepare the asparagus for roasting we suggest breaking these off before cooking. This part of the asparagus does not cook and get tender the way the rest of it does. If you leave some (or all) of it on the end of the asparagus stalk is is hard and stringy when you bite into it. The second reason could be that you overcooked the asparagus (it gets stringy when you overcook it.) You can tell that it is overcooked because it will be a dull green instead of the dark green pictured above.
Asparagus is very healthy and oven roasted baked asparagus is no exception to that rule. Asparagus is high in fiber, and contains vitamins A, B6, C, E, K, is an antioxidant, and is rich in minerals like iron, copper, and calcium.
The answer to this is yes and no. You need to insure that there no small insects hiding out in the tip or triangular leaves of the asparagus and peeling is one way to insure this. There are other methods of checking asparagus that do not involve peeling but you should consult your own rabbi about this.
Oven roasted asparagus keeps very will for 3-4 days in a plastic bag or in an air tight container kept in the refrigerator. When it comes time to reheat it, put the asparagus in a covered dish with 1 teaspoon of water in the bottom, this will keep it from drying out. You can reheat the covered dish in the microwave for 1:00 or in an oven heated to 300ºF for 10 minutes.
Variations on Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus
The recipe as written is very tasty and stands up on its own but we always like to encourage experimentation. Here are some suggestions for fun toppings:
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Garlic aioli
- Sriracha sauce
More recipes like this one
Recipe
Easy 3 Ingredient Oven Roasted Asparagus
Equipment
- sheet pan
- potato peeler
Ingredients
- 1 lb asparagus spears
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon salt kosher salt or Himalayan sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat an oven to 400ºF.
- Break off the hard end of the asparagus.
- Cut off the tips of the asparagus spear.
- Peel the sides of the asparagus using a potato peeler.
- Arrange the asparagus spears in one layer on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.
- Pour the olive oil over the top of the peeled asparagus.
- Sprinkle the salt over the tops of the oiled asparagus.
- Bake for 7 minutes on a center oven rack.