If you’re looking for a quick side dish that everyone will love, look no further! This bacon parmesan asparagus tastes amazing, comes together in minutes, and is the perfect side dish for whatever you’re serving this summer.
You can make it in the air fryer or the oven, or toss it in a foil packet and cook it on the grill. No matter how you cook it, I promise you’re going to LOVE the results.
Also, if you use vegan bacon salt (affiliate link), this recipe TASTES bacon-y but it’s completely vegetarian. Yep, you can serve it to your vegetarian and meat-loving friends and everyone will be happy. (If you need to make it vegan, you’ll need to use vegan parmesan cheese.)
How this Bacon Parmesan Asparagus Came to Be
At our Memorial Day family gathering this weekend, we needed an easy side dish that everyone would eat. My parents have a HUGE asparagus bed, so asparagus was the natural choice to go with our meal.
However, shortly before dinnertime we decided we NEEDED ice cream for dessert. But alas we had no ice cream. Since I have a new electric vehicle that everyone was dying to drive, I had to go run to the store to get ice cream. Before I left, though, I told my dad and my sis about my latest favorite way to prepare asparagus: air fried, with parmesan cheese and seasonings. I gave quick instructions. And left in their hands to make it happen.
When we got back from our little EV adventure, dinner was ready, so we all dived in. Even though my dad had made a huge pan of asparagus, it was mostly gone by the time I got there! I was a little sad because I wanted a big pile of it. Everyone loved it so much that I didn’t get much. (Not a huge loss, though, because I can always make more, right?)
After dinner, my dad told me that they had to change up my recipe a bit because they didn’t have the Red Robin Seasoning I suggested. They decided to use bacon salt instead. BACON salt! Why didn’t I think of that? What a perfect pairing for asparagus. So I came home and made a big batch of my updated newest favorite way to revel in asparagus.
What is Bacon Salt?
If you’ve never heard of bacon salt before, you seriously need to try it! Bacon salt is simply salt with smoky flavor so it tastes like bacon. Bacon salt gives anything you put it on a nice smoky bacon flavor. You can either buy bacon salt (affiliate link) or make it. Commercially, people make bacon salt by adding smoky flavorings until the salt tastes like bacon. At home, you can make bacon salt by cooking bacon until very crisp, then blending it up with salt (and dried mushrooms if you like) to make a seasoning.
I know you’re going to adore this simple asparagus recipe. So let’s go cook it up! I’ve offered three different options for cooking your bacon parmesan asparagus. I hope you love it as much as we do.
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Quick & Easy Bacon Parmesan Asparagus
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 7 – 15 min
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
- Category: Sides
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 lb. asparagus, cleaned and ends trimmed
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (the powdered kind used for sprinkling on pizza works well, but freshly grated parmesan works too – or for vegan, use vegan parmesan cheese)
- 1 teaspoon bacon salt (use vegan bacon salt for vegan or vegetarian diets)
- Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (or your favorite no-salt seasoning), to taste
- For the top: extra parmesan cheese and/or bits of cooked bacon (skip the bacon for vegetarian diets)
Instructions
Air Fryer Method:
- Preheat air fryer to 400 F.
- Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, then toss to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bacon salt, then a generous sprinkle of TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute. Toss again to coat the spears.
- Depending on the size of your basket, you may need to work in batches. I divide it in half.
- Cook at 370 F for 5 – 8 minutes, shaking the basket mid-way, or until the asparagus is bright green and tender. Serve hot sprinkled with extra parmesan and bacon, if desired.
Oven Roasted Method:
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Set the asparagus on a rimmed cookie sheet. Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, then toss to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bacon salt, then a generous sprinkle of TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute. Toss again to coat the spears.
- Bake at 425 F for 10 – 12 minutes or until the asparagus is bright green and tender. Serve hot sprinkled with extra parmesan and bacon, if desired.
Grilled Method:
- Heat up the grill. Get out two large pieces of aluminum foil. Set the asparagus on one piece.
- Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, then toss to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bacon salt, then a generous sprinkle of TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute. Toss again to coat the spears.
- Set the other piece of foil on top and roll the edges together to seal.
- Set on the grill and let cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until asparagus is bright green and tender. Serve hot sprinkled with extra parmesan and bacon, if desired.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Asparagus, Parmesan, Cheese, Bacon
For some really awesome tips about just about EVERYTHING asparagus, go visit my friend Ann at Fountain Avenue Kitchen! She has a post that explains how to buy the freshest asparagus, the difference between white, purple and green asparagus, how much is in a bunch of asparagus, nutrition facts, and more.
