Tender asparagus is a healthy and delicious side dish. Learning how to microwave asparagus is the easiest way to take raw asparagus and cook it to perfection for a meal in a pinch. Here’s how you can use your microwave oven to get that asparagus ready for dinner tonight!
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Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick!: With only a few minutes to prep and a few minutes in the microwave, this has to be one of the best microwave recipes for asparagus to keep on hand for quick, delicious, and nutritious meals.
- Perfect texture!: You don’t want asparagus to be too mushy or have that raw texture. When you cook asparagus in microwave, you’ll be able to get it just right.
- Healthy and delicious!: Asparagus is a nutritious vegetable with vitamin K and loads of other good-for-you nutrients. It’s low in calories, and adding garlic makes it even better in flavor and healthfulness.
Nutrition For Mental Health
When I was in graduate school for my Master of Science in Nutrition, I fell in love with how diet can impact mental health. Half of a cup of asparagus is rich in antioxidants, vitamin K, and folate. It is also a good source of vitamin C, flavonoids, and polyphenols and contains small amounts of potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin E. Dietary vitamin K intake is associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms in adults in the United States.
Ingredients + Notes
- Asparagus: This is the star of the recipe, of course! It can help to choose asparagus that is all about the same thickness in size. This way, the asparagus stalks will all cook evenly.
- Water: The water helps give it a steamed effect right in your microwave. No hassle with pots or steamer baskets.
- Avocado oil: Drizzle this on at the end just prior to serving. No avocado oil? You can use a little
A full list of ingredients with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations
- Seasonings: No fresh garlic? Use garlic powder or garlic salt! Just remember to skip adding salt if you use garlic salt, or it’s going to be far too salty for consumption. Other spice rack items can jazz up your asparagus to pair with your meal. Smoked salt, onion powder, chipotle, cumin, rosemary, basil, oregano, ginger, basil, sage, and tarragon are just a few things you can experiment with. Don’t be shy about fresh herbs, either! They’ll add more nutrition and taste, too.
Step-by-step Instructions
These are detailed instructions to steam asparagus in the microwave, but the recipe is very easy and straightforward.
- Wash the asparagus well. (No need to dry them afterward. A little water is a benefit.)
- Cut the lemon into slices and the bottoms of the asparagus spears off. You can do this with a knife by cutting off the woody part at the end. (This usually entails cutting off about 2 inches (or 5 centimeters.))
For a different method, you can use your hands. Hold the bottom of the asparagus spear in your right hand between your thumb and index finger. Then, hold the top half in your left hand. Bend the asparagus stalk until the woody ends break off. (It will naturally break the woody part off this way.) Repeat this until all the asparagus has been processed.
- Lay the prepped asparagus out on a microwave-safe dinner plate. (A microwave-safe bowl, microwave-safe baking dish, or another microwave-safe dish will also work.)
- Add a tablespoon of water to the plate, lemon slices, and minced garlic. Then, cover it with an upside-down dinner plate.
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- Place in the microwave and cook for about 3 minutes. For very thin asparagus, cooking it for 2 minutes might be more appropriate. For thicker asparagus, cooking it for closer to 5 minutes may be necessary.
If your desired softness isn’t reached after this allotted cooking time, continue cooking asparagus in 30-second to 1-minute increments. - Remove the cooked asparagus from the microwave. Use oven mitts or a towel!
- Remove the top plate, being careful to avoid the hot steam underneath.
- Drizzle avocado oil over the steamed asparagus and sprinkle the salt and pepper on top.
Serving Ideas
Enjoy this simple microwave asparagus recipe as a tasty side. Here are some serving ideas.
- Lemon: A hint of citrus always brings out the umami taste. You can add fresh lemon juice or zest. I like adding lemon zest along with lemon juice. It looks so elegant and really boosts the flavor. If you’ve never made it before, this is a great tutorial for making the Best Lemon Zest.
- Vegan parmesan: Or really any hard vegan cheese. Vegan parmesan cheese definitely gives this microwave asparagus another layer of flavor. And besides, who can say no to cheese?
- Vegan butter: Try vegan butter if you’re out of olive oil or avocado oil. Melted butter is a beautiful match for fresh asparagus. Adding a little fat to this low-calorie veggie provides more balance, one that your palate is going to appreciate.
- Olive oil: Drizzles of olive oil are another great substitute for avocado oil in this microwavable dish. I say, use whichever you have on hand. If it’s olive oil you have on hand, a tablespoon of olive oil will do the trick!
- Chimichurri Dressing: This Chimichurri Dressing tastes absolutely delicious on this easy asparagus recipe!
- Mains: Enjoy this microwave recipe for asparagus with Vegan Veggie Pot Pie or Vegan Mini Lasagnas.
Storage Tips
If you have any of your microwave-steamed leftover asparagus, it will be wonderful for lunch or to repurpose in your cooking tomorrow night. Thankfully, asparagus keeps well when you put it in an airtight container.
- Fridge: Store leftover asparagus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: Since asparagus has such a high water content, the texture will not be ideal if you freeze it. So, I recommend making only what you can feasibly eat in a few days’ time.
FAQ
There’s no wrong way to eat asparagus. You’re adding a side to your meal that will give you the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you need. That being said, steaming vegetables is the best way for them to retain nutrients.
You can even eat it raw by shredding it on salads or pasta dishes, but one of the best ways is to steam it in your microwave gently. You spend less time cooking, have greater control of texture, and don’t use as many dishes.
Generally, it should take between 3 and 5 minutes to cook your asparagus in the microwave. If you have a bunch of thin stalks, you may even want to set the timer for 2 minutes so you don’t overcook them. Thicker stalks of asparagus may need up to 5 minutes to cook thoroughly.
Steaming your asparagus will help keep those good nutrients locked into each bite. When you boil asparagus, many of the nutrients go into the water, which you wind up dumping out most of the time, right?
Steaming your asparagus is the way to go, and by doing it in the microwave, you cut down on cooking time and dishwashing, too!
If you tried this How To Microwave Asparagus Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Microwave Asparagus
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of asparagus, roughly 1 pound or 450 grams
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 small lemon, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash the asparagus well. (No need to dry them afterward. A little water is a benefit.)
- Cut the bottoms of the asparagus spears off. You can do this with a knife by cutting off the woody part at the end. (This usually entails cutting off about 2 inches (or 5 centimeters.))
- Lay the prepped asparagus out on a microwave-safe dinner plate. (A microwave-safe bowl, microwave-safe baking dish, or another microwave-safe dish will work too.) (For a different method, you can use your hands. Hold the bottom of the asparagus spear in your right hand between your thumb and index finger. Then hold the top half in your left hand. Bend the asparagus stalk until the woody ends break off. (It will naturally break the woody part off this way.) Repeat this until all the asparagus has been processed.)
- Add a tablespoon of water to the plate, lemon slices, and minced garlic. Then cover it with an upside-down dinner plate.
- Place in the microwave and cook for about 3 minutes. For very thin asparagus, cooking it for 2 minutes might be more appropriate. Whereas, for thicker asparagus, cooking it for closer to 5 minutes may be necessary. (If your desired softness isn’t reached after this allotted cooking time, continue cooking asparagus in 30-second to 1-minute increments.)
- Use oven mitts! Remove the cooked asparagus from the microwave.
- Remove the top plate, being careful to avoid the hot steam underneath.
- Drizzle avocado oil over the asparagus and sprinkle the salt and pepper on top.
Video
Notes
- Fridge: Store leftover asparagus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: Since asparagus has such a high water content, the texture will not be ideal if you freeze it. So, I recommend making only what you can feasibly eat in a few days’ time.
Nutrition
Reference
Zhang Y, Tan W, Xi X, Yang H, Zhang K, Li S, Chen X, Zuo H. Association between vitamin K intake and depressive symptoms in US adults: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2018. Front Nutr. 2023 Mar 22;10:1102109. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1102109. PMID: 37032783; PMCID: PMC10073415.
I love this! Honestly, sometimes we just forget to make a side dish for dinner and this recipe makes it so easy!
Yes!!! It’s so easy to forget.