Baked Asparagus With Parmesan

What’s your favorite way to make asparagus? Here’s ours: this easy baked asparagus! It’s roasted in a hot oven until tender but still beautifully green, then spritzed with lemon (the secret to making this healthy veggie taste over-the-moon good). Why we love this recipe: Roasted asparagus is the perfect way to cook asparagus: it comes out perfectly tender with a slight char to the flavor. We love to sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese to the pan to infuse even more salty, savory flavor. Even better, it’s a side dish that’s simple enough to whip up while you’re in the midst of cooking easy dinner. A few other ways to cook asparagus? Try grilled asparagus, roasted asparagus, broiled asparagus, sauteed asparagus or steamed asparagus.

How to make baked asparagus: step by step

To be honest, I was pretty iffy on asparagus growing up. The image of pushing lifeless green stalks around on my plate as a child is seared into my memory! It wasn’t until adulthood that I started to give it a chance. Even today, when asparagus isn’t cooked correctly it can send me right back to those days. Luckily this baked asparagus recipe makes it taste so good, even our toddler gobbled it up! The lemon and Parmesan asparagus combo is a smash hit every time. How long to bake asparagus? Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes at 425°F. Here’s what to do (or go right to the recipe):

More easy side dish recipes

This baked Parmesan asparagus is part of a collection of our best vegetable side dishes! Ready to jump on the train? Let us know if you try it in the comments, or check out more of our easy asparagus recipes. Here are a few more you’ll love to make on the regular:

Top with grated Pecorino cheese for a salty flair. Mix the spears with a seasoning blend before baking, like Old Bay, Cajun seasoning, or even ranch seasoning. Top with a sauce, like lemon dill sauce or mustard sauce.

Another bonus for asparagus is that it’s relatively high in fiber (1 cup of cooked asparagus has 4 grams of fiber). So it’s great for pairing with a vegetable-free meal like cheesy risotto or mac and cheese. Here are a few great recipes to serve it with:

Salmon: Try baked salmon, lemon dill salmon, miso salmon, or grilled salmon. Risotto: Use it in asparagus risotto, or try it with classic risotto or truffle risotto. Chicken: Add it to a chicken recipe to a make quick dinner, like lemon garlic chicken, Parmesan crusted chicken, pesto chicken, or blackened chicken. Pasta: Take pasta to the next level. Make it with broccoli mac and cheese, garlic butter noodles, or shrimp primavera.

This fried broccoli is a healthy side dish we make on the regular. Try lemon herb steamed cauliflower, which cooks up in minutes. These lemony steamed green beans are zingy from the lemon and take only 10 minutes to make. Try asparagus salad with feta, which highlights this veggie with lemon, radishes, feta, and a Dijon dressing.