46 asparagus recipes to try this spring

With their elegant emerald spears and tightly furled, crown- shaped tips, you’d be forgiven for thinking asparagus veggie royalty. King Louis XIV certainly did. So enamoured was the French ruler, he famously commissioned heated greenhouses to coax it into growing year-round.

Closer to home, asparagus enjoys a fleeting season from September to November, shooting up by as much as 25 centimetres a day in spring’s warmth. Far from an overnight success, this perennial spends its first three years establishing the root crown. Give it time to mature, and it will reward you with tender stems for decades – but harvest too soon and you’ll be left with nothing. Then there’s white asparagus, with its ivory skin and milder flavour. An exotic separate variety? No, it’s simply green asparagus raised in the dark, beneath mounds of soil or under covers, shielded from sunlight. Proof that taking care of the complexion is the ultimate in chic.

And while we love lightly blanched asparagus with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (or lemon zest) and cracked black pepper, there’s more to these versatile green stalks than meets the eye. Add just-tender asparagus to our spring-ready poached chicken salad with blue cheese. Or serve Restaurant Botanic‘s grilled asparagus and wagyu skewers with charred capsicum paste as a brilliant side dish. If you’re looking for a nourishing breakfast, bake our deliciously simple asparagus frittata. The possibilities are endless.

In this collection of our best asparagus recipes, you’ll find fast dinners, like our asparagus and soba noodle bowl that’s ready in 20 minutes; our asparagus and ricotta pizza bianche; David Moyle’s smoked trout, radish and asparagus salad; and more. Plus, we’ve sprinkled in a dozen of our best asparagus recipes for entertaining.

Loading the player…

Our favourite asparagus recipes to turn to when spring arrives

Blue cheese and asparagus salad with poached chicken

Poached chicken asparagus salad with blue cheese

This is an ultra-elevated take on a chicken salad — with bite.

Asparagus, dill and onion tart

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for asparagus, dill and onion tart.

Asparagus with walnut mayonnaise

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for asparagus with walnut mayonnaise from Lyle’s, London.

White plates with asparagus spears, halved soft-boiled eggs, and pea shoots, scattered with buckwheat.

Asparagus and eggs with miso dressing

An easy lunch? A side dish for dinner? A weekend brunch? It’s all of the above.

Spring green frittata

It’s like green eggs, without the ham.

Pasta and greens

A quick weeknight dish filled with seasonal green vegetables and lots of parmesan.

Asparagus and soba noodle salad with furikake pine nuts

Make it a meal: for a more substantial dish, stir-fry prawns in sesame oil and garlic and toss through the noodles.

Stuffed pork cutlets with asparagus slaw

Pork lovers, this is the recipe for you.

Roasted mushrooms with asparagus and goat’s cheese

A vegetarian roast with the most.

Native ad body.

35 quick and easy fish recipes

12 Christmas pudding recipes we dream about all year

Mango season: our best recipes for desserts, drinks and more

20 ways to rethink potato salad this barbecue season

Easy Italian, Greek and Spanish octopus recipes you can make at home

26 summer salad recipes for entertaining, sharing and eating well

Our top crab recipes for serious seafood lovers

Standout Bistro Livi recipes, from spanner crab omelette to slow-cooked lamb

Treat yourself with these weekend brunch recipes

Pan-fried barramundi with creamy Grenobloise sauce and colcannon

23 of the best barramundi recipes

Veal cotoletta with asparagus and preserved lemon

The lemon and asparagus prevent this dish from feeling too rich and heavy, and if you don’t have veal, chicken breast will work just as well.

Restaurant Botanic’s wagyu and asparagus skewers with charred capsicum paste

This is the perfect luxe barbecue meal for summer.

Grilled tuna salad with egg, asparagus and anchovy vinaigrette

Where classic flavours, top-shelf produce and minimal intervention combine.

Asparagus spears, sprinkled with lemon zest and dill, with a mound of labne swirled through with olive oil, on an off-white plate with a gold fork.

Fleet’s grilled asparagus with sheep’s-milk labne

A fresh sidekick to a roast chicken, or an easy starter on its own.

Andrew McConnell’s spring crudités with house-made curd

The best of the season’s harvest, simple and unadulterated, with a side of velvety curd.

Chicken salad with asparagus and quinoa

If you’ve got the time, toast the quinoa in a little grapeseed oil until it’s golden brown before adding the water – it adds a great nutty flavour that works well with the asparagus.

Asparagus and ricotta pizze bianche

Asparagus and ricotta pizze bianche recipe – For pizza dough, combine olive oil, yeast, sugar, ½ tsp salt and 320ml lukewarm water in a bowl and set aside until foamy (2-3 minutes).

Barigoule of artichoke, asparagus and kale with scallops and clams

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Barigoule of artichoke, asparagus and kale with scallops and clams

Emma McCaskill’s green asparagus, fennel, lentil and labne salad

A combination that just works.

Zucchini flower, asparagus and fennel salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for zucchini flower, asparagus and fennel salad.

orange-bowl-filled-with fennel-salad-next-to-a-plate-with-whipped-tofu tart topped with zucchini flowers and more fennel salad.

Whipped tofu and zucchini tart with fennel salad

If you’ve been wanting to ease into tofu but unsure where to start, this tofu tart is the perfect segue.

Grilled asparagus, herb and goat’s curd baked eggs

Recipe for grilled asparagus, herb and goat’s curd baked eggs.

Perfect match: asparagus salad with Kiwi sav blanc

Australian Gourmet Traveller wine match recipe for roast asparagus, chicory and goat’s cheese salad with Kiwi sauvignon blanc.

Miso broth with spring vegetables and tofu

Miso broth with broad beans and tofu

A vegetarian broth that still packs a umami punch.

Roast veal fillet with crisp potato galettes and tonnato sauce

Asparagus and watercress salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for asparagus and watercress salad.

Bistecca Fiorentina with asparagus

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for bistecca Fiorentina with asparagus.

Two round grilled flatbread, topped with asparagus, prosciutto, and ricotta, on a rectangular wooden board wiht a bread knife and lemon segments, sitting on a pink, white and blue tiles.

Prosciutto, asparagus and ricotta on grilled flatbreads

Is there anything more satisfying than making your own flatbread? This is one of the simplest recipes we know.

Tony Tan’s stir-fried asparagus with shiitake mushrooms and chilli

Inspired by an asparagus dish eaten in Sichuan, Tony Tan stir-fries his own version with fresh shiitake mushrooms, ginger and soy sauce. So simple, so good.

Osteria Illaria’s grilled fennel and asparagus salad

“Fennel’s flavour changes dramatically as you grill it, and it gives it more depth,” says Andreas Papadakis.

Asparagus with blood-orange and chervil hollandaise

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Asparagus with blood-orange and chervil hollandaise for a Great Gatsby party

Mike McEnearney’s crushed broad bean, grilled asparagus, pecorino and sorrel tartine

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for crushed broad bean, grilled asparagus, pecorino and sorrel tartine by Mike McEnearney from Mike’s Kitchen in NSW.

Warm asparagus salad with walnuts, parmesan, lemon and olive oil

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for warm asparagus salad with walnuts, parmesan, lemon and olive oil.

David Moyle’s smoked trout, asparagus and radish salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Smoked trout, asparagus and radish salad from David Moyle of Peppermint Bay.

Thi Le’s asparagus with fermented beancurd, olives and ginger dressing

A tangy twist on a classic side, try Anchovy’s asparagus with fermented beancurd, olives and ginger dressing for a sense-igniting dish.

Insalata primavera

This versatile spring salad mixes and matches seasonal green vegetables for the optimal combination of textures and flavours. Experiment to your heart’s content.

Asparagus and egg tramezzini with lemon aïoli

Turin’s pillowy sandwich, the tramezzino, is the perfect vehicle for crunchy asparagus and soft egg.

Chorizo and asparagus salad with chimichurri

Quick to make and full of rich Spanish tomato and garlic flavours, our recipe for a chorizo and asparagus salad with chimichurri makes for a solid summer dinner.

When you have canned tuna, you make this tonnato

The creamy tuna sauce is usually spooned over thinly sliced veal in the classic Italian dish vitello tonnato, but it also makes a great dip in its own right.

Prosciutto and parmesan cappellacci with brown butter and asparagus

Ham-and-cheese-filled pasta, burnt butter and fresh asparagus – this recipe speaks for itself.

Bistecca with asparagus and salsa dragoncello

Simple blanched asparagus makes a no-fuss accompaniment to this steak, but for a smokier, nuttier flavour, toss the spears on the grill while the T-bones are cooking.

Grilled baby snapper with sauce Antiboise

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for grilled baby snapper with sauce Antiboise by Donovan Cooke from The Atlantic, Melbourne.

Asparagus, poached egg and Taleggio baguette

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Asparagus, poached egg and Taleggio baguette from Earl Canteen, Melbourne

La vignarola (Roman spring stew)

Broad beans, artichokes and asparagus, gently simmered in broth, then scattered with herbs. This is a dish made for spring.

Roast whiting with asparagus and sauce vierge

Australian Gourmet Traveller fast recipe for roast whiting with asparagus and sauce vierge.

Buckwheat crêpes with egg and asparagus

Emma Knowles recipe for buckwheat crêpes with egg and asparagus.

Five asparagus spears drizzled with butter, on a white oval plate, with a golden pepper shaker and black knife and fork on the side.

Brae’s asparagus and olive herb in sea butter

Dan Hunter’s recipe for asparagus and olive herb in sea butter from Brae restaurant in Victoria for Gourmet Institute.

Stirfried asparagus with garlic

Australian Gourmet Traveller Chinese recipe for stirfried asparagus with garlic by Tony Tan

FAQs

What method of cooking is best for preparing asparagus?

One of the beauties of asparagus is its versatility: whichever way you cook it — grilled, pan-fried, blanched or roasted — you can’t go wrong. It needs very little to taste good. Serve it as a side salad with eggs and miso dressing, in a tart with dill and onion or simply grilled on top of a bed of marinated feta and charred crostini, and you have a dish worth bragging about.

When is asparagus in season?

In Australia, asparagus is around for a good time, not a long time! It’s in season during spring, so you’ll find it at its best from September to November.

Author Monique Foy Senior Content Producer

An English major with a penchant for anchovies on toast and the ocean, Monique Foy got her start at Gourmet Traveller after an existential crisis and career pivot. Following her time as a digital marketer at global media agencies and a short stint as an SEO writer, Monique threw caution to the wind one Wednesday and decided to pursue her true passion – writing, of the food and drinks variety. Since then, she’s had her work published in Broadsheet and Urban List, and she joins Gourmet Traveller as Senior Content Producer with the intention to continue adding funky venues and quaint new wine bars to her growing iPhone notes section.

The Gourmet Traveller Team

Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.

Share this post

Our favourite asparagus recipes to turn to when spring arrives

FAQs

What method of cooking is best for preparing asparagus?

When is asparagus in season?

Related

Related stories

About your privacy

Related