This cheesy air fryer asparagus recipe is easy, delicious and comes together with just six ingredients. Adding grated parmesan cheese to the asparagus during the last few minutes of air frying takes this side dish from great to simply amazing!
Why you will love it
While oven roasted asparagus is tasty, this cheesy air fryer asparagus is next level deliciousness.
This is an easy crave-worthy side dish that the whole family can enjoy.
The best part: it comes together super fast !
Serve this quick dish along side my honey garlic salmon or serve it as a yummy appetizer.
What you need to make it
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Asparagus – Try to choose a bunch of asparagus with uniform size of the spears/stems.
- Sea salt – You can swap out the sea salt for kosher or pink Himalayan salt if you have those on hand.
- Olive oil – We use a mild tasting cooking olive oil, but extra virgin olive oil works great as well.
- Lemon juice – Fresh lemon juice is best of course, but bottled will work in a pinch.
- Grated parmesan cheese – Use fresh grated parmesan for best quality, but pre-grated parmesan will work just fine.
- Garlic powder – Gives the asparagus some garlicky goodness.
How to make parmesan asparagus in the air fryer
Trim the woody ends (stems) off of the asparagus spears.
Toss asparagus in oil and seasonings.
Add asparagus to air fryer in one layer.
After cooking ~ 7 minutes, sprinkle on parmesan cheese.
Remove from air fryer and serve it up!
Top tips for making the best air fryer asparagus
- Be sure to rinse the asparagus and trim the stems off of the ends of the individual asparagus spears. Using a sharp knife, you should be able to cut the stems of about 6 – 8 spears at once.
- If the bottom part of the any of the spears are on the thicker side, you can use a vegetable peeler to peel off some of the green to make for a more tender bite.
- Use a food processor to grate the parmesan cheese to crumbles.
- Adjust sea salt to taste as parmesan cheese contains salt and you don’t want your dish to be salty.
FAQs
400 degrees F works well to cook the asparagus in the air fryer in about 7 – 8 minutes.
Yes, as sometimes there’s some grit/sand left on the spears after harvesting. Rinse the spears well under cold running water to remove any left over grit or sand.
Asparagus pairs really well with garlic, lemon, shallots, dill, black pepper and sea salt. It’s also delicious with cheese, egg dishes, crab and shrimp.
Air Fryer Parmesan Asparagus
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Grate parmesan cheese in food processor and set aside. Skip this step if using pre-grated parmesan.
- Rinse asparagus and trim woody bottoms off.
- Pre-heat air fryer to 400 degrees.
- While the air fryer is pre-heating, add asparagus, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic powder and salt to a bowl and toss to combine.
- Place asparagus spears inside air fryer basket, and cook for cook for 7 minutes.
- Pull out air fryer basket and sprinkle parmesan cheese over asparagus and allow to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes to melt cheese. Serve immediately.
