Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus

Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus is an easy and quick (yet elegant!) way to prepare asparagus. Asparagus is roasted in the oven, then tossed with a simple vinaigrette made of lemon, herbs, and garlic for a burst of fresh flavor.

This recipe for Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus is one of my favorite ways to prepare asparagus. The tangy, fresh, and bright flavors of the dressing really perk up the slightly bitter and earthy flavors of the roasted asparagus.

Plus, the bright green dressing looks so beautiful on the serving plate! And, it’s easy to make, and pretty quick too. You can have this gorgeous side on the table in a little over 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe for Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus:

• Asparagus: you can use thinner asparagus or the thicker stalks, whatever your preference. The ones I used here are sort of in the middle!
• Oil: You will need oil to both roast the asparagus and make the vinaigrette. I used extra virgin olive oil for both, because I like the flavor and pretty much use it whenever I can! However, some people don’t like using extra virgin olive oil in higher heat applications. So, just use whatever kind of oil you like to roast, and your favorite kind for making dressings.
• Salt & Black pepper
• Fresh herbs: you can use your favorite type of herb, or a combination of two or more herbs! I discuss herb suggestions in the next section.
• Fresh garlic
• Lemon: you will need the juice and zest. One lemon will do it (and you won’t need the entire thing).
• Optional garnishes: I garnished mine with extra fresh herbs and slices of lemon

What type of herbs should I use for the vinaigrette?

As I mentioned in the Ingredients section, you can use your favorite type of herb or even an assortment. I used a combination of chives, dill and mint.

You should stick with soft, leafy types of herbs however, rather than woody types like rosemary and thyme. These can get too strong when eaten raw. Some good herbs to use in addition to chives, dill, and mint include parsley, cilantro, basil, or even scallions!

(A note about the mint: for me, I would probably not make the vinaigrette with 100% mint because it can be kind of overpowering. But, that is a matter of personal taste of course!)

How to prep asparagus

There are two main ways to prepare asparagus (i.e. should I snap the ends off or cut?). I, personally, am a cutter, not a snapper. I’m sure there is much debate over this, but I just find it much faster and easier to cut all the stems at once.

Also, I feel like I can actually save more edible asparagus by cutting. (Have you ever snapped the asparagus stalk and it just seems like you lost half the thing?)

Anyways, here is how I like to do it:

1. If there are rubber bands around the bunch, leave the bottom one on.
2. Rinse the asparagus. (I do this with the band still on, I haven’t had a problem getting the water all around the veggies, you can just stretch it a bit to help the water get in between).
3. Then, put the bunch on the cutting board. Look for the spot where the lighter colored stalk transitions into green. This is where I like to cut. If you really don’t like any hint of woodiness, you can cut a little bit higher up on the stalk.
4. Chop through all the stems at once. And, because you left the band on, just take all the ends to the trash or compost pile in one neat bundle!

Again, this is just my way I like to do it, and I’ve found that I get to keep a lot of the edible, non-woody asparagus without the annoyance of having to snap each one individually.

That being said, I’m open to other ways! If you have a favorite method of preparing asparagus, let me know in the comments!

How long to roast?

You will need to adjust the roasting time based on how thick your asparagus are and your own personal tastes. I prefer my asparagus when it is just starting to get a little brown, as you can see from the picture above. The asparagus I used for this batch were sort of in-between thick and thin, and they took me about 11 minutes at 450 degrees.

I would suggest keeping an eye on the asparagus during the last few minutes of cooking to make sure it doesn’t get overdone. If you have very skinny asparagus, I would start to check at even the 7 – 8 minute mark.

I hope you like this recipe for Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus. If you need some other quick and easy side dishes, please check out my recipes for Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad and Cilantro Garlic and Lime Cauliflower!

If you’ve tried this recipe for Lemon Herb Roasted Asparagus, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments down below, I would love to hear from you! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more delicious recipes from Nibble and Dine!

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