This Perfect Instant Pot Asparagus is much easier to make than you think, and comes together with a delicious lemon, garlic & parmesan seasoning.
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Ingredients in this recipe
You don’t need many ingredients to make this Instant Pot asparagus – in fact, you technically only need asparagus and water. However, you’ll want to try my lemon, garlic and parmesan seasoning, it’s SO good!
Here’s what you need:
- water
- asparagus
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- garlic, minced
- salt & pepper
- chili flakes
- parmesan cheese
How to make asparagus in the Instant Pot
It’s very easy to make asparagus or any type of veggie in the Instant Pot. You’re basically going to add the asparagus and seasoning then pressure cook for 0 minutes. Yes, ZERO minutes!
Here are more details:
- Add water to the bottom of Instant Pot and then place trivet inside the inner pot.
- Add asparagus, then drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper and chili flakes overtop. Pressure cook zero minutes.
- Press the Cancel button then do a quick release of the pressure. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped.
- Carefully remove asparagus from Instant Pot and serve, sprinkling with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
How long do you steam asparagus?
When you cook asparagus in the Instant Pot, it literally needs NO cooking time! It typically takes 5 to 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, and during that time, the asparagus will steam.
So, manually set your Instant Pot to cook on low power for ZERO minutes.
Ingredient substitutions
There are so few ingredients needed to make this recipe that there are just a couple of optional substitutions.
- Oil – I like to use olive oil, but any neutral flavour of oil will work well. Good options are avocado, grape seed, canola, or vegetable oil.
- Garlic cloves – If you don’t have any fresh garlic on hand, feel free to use 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder as a substitute for the 2 cloves of fresh.
- Parmesan cheese – For those who don’t or can’t eat dairy products, you can either omit the cheese altogether or use nutritional yeast as a substitute. If you are vegetarian, make sure you use vegetarian parmesan.
Other asparagus seasonings
Lemon and garlic are fantastic on asparagus, but there are plenty of other seasonings that pair well with it. Add some of these other flavour combinations to your asparagus if you’re looking to change things up!
- Orange and fennel
- Lemon and thyme
- Asian spices – Combine soy sauce with a bit of maple syrup or honey for sweetness
- Tarragon
- Lemon and dill weed
- Hollandaise sauce
What do you eat asparagus with?
Asparagus pairs well with just about every protein you can imagine. It’s delicious served alongside:
- grilled steak
- pork chops or tenderloin
- chicken or turkey
- Seafood, especially salmon, tuna steaks, shrimp, and lobster
Plus, it is also fantastic on top of a salad! Or, mix some chopped steamed asparagus in with cooked rice to boost up the flavour of your side dish.
Storing and reheating
Any leftovers should be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within 4 to 5 days. If possible, avoid stacking the spears. Instead, lay them in a flat layer in a plastic storage bag.
To reheat: The best way to reheat cooked asparagus is on a sheet pan in an oven. Keep in mind that it’s a very tender vegetable, so to prevent it from becoming mushy, avoid microwaving it.
Set your oven to 450 F. and place the spears in an even layer on your sheet pan. It doesn’t take long to reheat them – if it’s been in the refrigerator, usually 5 minutes in the oven will be plenty of time to heat it through.
Can you freeze asparagus?
You can absolutely freeze asparagus, and it will usually keep well in the freezer for up to 8 months.
However, to prevent it from becoming limp and soggy when reheating it, it’s important to freeze Instant Pot asparagus as soon as possible after steaming it.
Unseasoned spears: If there are no seasonings on the spears, simply plunge them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. This is known as “shocking” the asparagus.
Seasoned spears: If you prepare the recipe as written, your spears will have seasoning on them. In this case, you don’t want to submerge them with water or the seasonings will wash off.
Instead, fill a large bowl with ice water (mostly ice) and nestle a smaller bowl inside of the large bowl. Place the cooked asparagus in the smaller bowl and allow it to stay on ice for 15 minutes to chill before freezing it.
More Instant Pot vegetables & sides
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Here’s the steam basket trivet in case you lost the one that comes with your Instant Pot
- Use these Ziploc bag holders to help add leftover asparagus to Ziploc bags
- Reusable silicone food bags – These reusable food bags get the same job done as the plastic freezer and sandwich bags
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Perfect Instant Pot Asparagus
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Trivet
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add the 3/4 cup of water to the bottom of Instant Pot and then place trivet inside the inner pot.
- Add asparagus, then drizzle with olive oil & lemon juice, sprinkling garlic, salt & pepper and chili flakes overtop of asparagus as well. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to low, then cook for 0 minutes. Yes, zero minutes is all that's needed to steam! The Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure, then notify you it's done by beeping.
- Press the Cancel button then do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Carefully remove asparagus from Instant Pot and serve on a large platter, gently tossing with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Video
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