Easy Air Fryer Asparagus with Parmesan

Air Fryer Asparagus with Parmesan is crisp, delicious and takes just 10 minutes to make. Perfect as a side dish, a healthy snack, or on a salad.

This recipe, much like our Roasted Parmesan Green Beans, combines a crisp green vegetable with a much-loved cheese.

One of my favorite vegetables is Lemon Pepper Asparagus, which is a roasted asparagus recipe.

Asparagus is a colorful healthy vegetable that is also low carb, so it’s great for a keto diet.

A great choice for healthy side dishes that are full of flavor, with an amazing texture and crunch.

This Air Fryer Asparagus recipe has a light coating of olive oil, garlic salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. It produces flavorful crisp asparagus spears every time.

This best air fryer asparagus and perfect side dish goes so with any main course such as Smoked Turkey, Rosemary Garlic Pork Roast and even Crispy Baked Chicken.

Yet easy crispy asparagus can be made even simpler thanks to air frying.

This popular small appliance cooks by circulating air around the food. Cook time is less than using the oven, and without heating up the entire house.

It also means you can save the oven space for another dish, which is usually occupied by the main.

This is why we started making Air Fryer Corn on the Cob, it’s much faster to cook, is such an easy recipe. Plus the taste is incredible.

Ingredients Required

Here are the following simple ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. Keep in mind there’s lots of room for substitutions on the seasonings to really make it your own.

• Fresh Asparagus: You’ll need a fresh bundle of asparagus, which usually serves 4 people.
  
  
• Olive Oil: I like to use extra virgin olive oil when cooking, yet you can also use avocado oil or grapeseed oil if you’d prefer.
  
  
• Seasoning: This simple recipe calls for simple seasonings to allow the taste of the asparagus to shine. I like to use just garlic salt and black pepper.
  
  If you use garlic powder instead, you’ll need to add some salt to the recipe. I suggest kosher salt, or a nice coarse salt.
  
  
• Parmesan Cheese: For best results, I use shredded Parmesan cheese. You could substitute with grated Parmesan instead.

How to Make Asparagus in the Air Fryer

The first thing you need to do is prepare the asparagus spears. Then they are ready to be air fried. Follow the three simple steps below.

As always, the printable recipe card for this air-fried asparagus recipe is at the bottom of this post.

Once the asparagus has been trimmed, rinse spears under cold running water. This removes any dirt.

As asparagus ages, it tends to get a bit of a slime on the outside. If fresh, it probably won’t have any. Yet if it does, rinsing will take that off as well.

Dry the spears on a lint-free towel paper towels.

The ends of asparagus are hard and woody, and need to be removed from the stalk. How much depends on preference and how long they are to begin with.

2 Ways to Trim Asparagus:

1. The first way is to just hold one stalk mid-way and bend the bottom until it snaps off where it wants to. Asparagus just has a knack for knowing where it needs trimmed.
   
   Trimming this way needs to be done one stalk at a time, though it is a great way.
   
2. The fastest way, so perhaps the best way: asparagus usually comes with an elastic around it, so the second way is to keep it on and cut the woody ends off with a sharp knife.
   
   If you do this, make sure the spears are bundled to a uniform length, and simply cut off the ends all at once.
   
   I like to cut where the colour changes to a light green to a grey/white or almost purple.

1. Place asparagus into the air fryer basket, in a single layer.
   
   
   1. Cook at 400 degrees for a cooking time of 5-7 minutes. I suggest tossing mid-way to ensure an even cook.
      
      TIP: Actually cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the stalks.
      Thin asparagus may take less time, while thicker asparagus may take more.
      
      The mid-way toss is a good chance to gauge the cooking process.
      
      
      
      
2. Once asparagus is cooked, remove from the basket and place on a plate.
   
   If desired, squeeze a bit of juice from a half of a fresh lemon onto the cooked asparagus with the nice parmesan crust.
   
   
3. Enjoy immediately.
   
   

Depending on how much you are making, the size of your stalks, and the size of air fryer – you might need to cook this in two batches.

The cook time is only 5-7 minutes, so there’s plenty of time to make another batch if needed.

Can I Make this Ahead of Time?

Air Fryer Asparagus is best when enjoyed fresh and warm. Yet you can save on prep time by trimming the asparagus ahead of time.

Actually, you can trim the asparagus up to a day in advance, to save more time when making this recipe.

Storage & Reheating

If you have leftover asparagus, store it in the fridge covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. It will keep for up to 4 days.

To reheat asparagus, you can use an air fryer for 2-3 minutes, in an oven or in a skillet on the stove.

Again, reheat in a single layer for best results.

An easy way is to reheat parmesan air fryer asparagus in the microwave, yet texture really does downhill using this method.

Either route you choose, be careful not to overcook asparagus.

What to Do with Leftover Asparagus

Leftover asparagus is a great addition to a bunch of delicious recipes.

You can cut leftover air fryer parmesan asparagus into pieces for a quiche or omelette. Cooked asparagus pieces are great in a salad as well.

You could also use asparagus leftovers to make a Creamy Asparagus Soup.

More Air Fryer Recipes:

• Air Fryer Green Beans
• Air Fryer Meatloaf
• Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings
• Air Fryer Chicken Bites
• Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer
• Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
• Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan