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    roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic

    Published: Jun 28, 2021 by Rebecca Eisenberg · Modified: Apr 6, 2022 · This post may contain affiliate links

    46 shares
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    I always thought I didn't like asparagus... until I tried roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic. This umami-rich flavor combo is exactly what your taste buds crave, and is the kind of dish that turns asparagus haters into asparagus lovers.

    Even better? It is SO hands off to make, you'll find yourself loving it just because it takes you zero time at all to pull together.

    a close up of a small bowl of soy sauce with garlic powder floating on top sits on top of rows of roasted asparagus

    Asparagus is one of my favorite summer vegetables. It's at its seasonal peak, low effort to prepare, and I can make it in my countertop toaster oven instead of in my big oven which means my kitchen doesn't end up swelteringly hot.

    Try serving this as a side with a bowl of green spaghetti sauce to really lean into the low-effort green of it all in the summer when you really don't feel like cooking.

    The umami flavors also make it a great side dish paired with a serving of richly flavored, pan-seared dal pierogi or my papermoon cheesesteaks on ciabatta bread.

    Jump to:
    • Why I Love This Asparagus
    • Ingredient Notes
    • Instructions
    • Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
    • Bonus Tip
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Why I Love This Asparagus

    Roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic is one of those happy accident recipes that started with me making a mistake and ended with me discovering a whole new thing that I like.

    In this case it was a small note in an issue of Alicia Kennedy's fantastic food newsletter where she mentioned briefly that she was enjoying "blistering string beans in the cast-iron with a little olive oil, then drizzling with soy sauce and dusting with garlic powder."

    I read Alicia's email in the morning and, somehow, by the end of the day, when I placed my delivery order, I was sure she had said asparagus. I've been trying to branch out and give foods I always thought I didn't like a second chance, so... asparagus was on the brain, I guess?

    Since I had the asparagus, I decided I might as well give it a try with the soy sauce and garlic anyway. So I blistered the asparagus in a cast iron pan over high heat, doused it with some aged soy sauce I picked up at an Asian grocery store, set off the smoke alarm (oops), and was shocked and delighted to learn I LIKE ASPARAGUS.

    asparagus lined up in a sheet pan

    At such high heat the asparagus buds at the end get crispy and a little bit charred. The stems have a really satisfying bite to them without being stringy. And the soy sauce and garlic powder is like a little flavor bomb going off in your mouth.

    Even more shocking? Jimmy loves this roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic too. He was way more skeptical than I was, and yet, over the next month, we found ourselves adding two, sometimes three, bundles of asparagus to our grocery cart.

    There's a convenience factor here for sure — asparagus is way easier to fit in your basket than three crowns of broccoli. But if we didn't actually love roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic so much, no amount of convenience could convince us to keep buying it.

    Ingredient Notes

    Here's what you'll need to make this roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic! Everything should be pretty easy to find in your local grocery store. See recipe card for quantities.

    a flat lay showing asparagus, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic powder and cloves, salt, and pepper
    • Asparagus - Thick or thin asparagus, whatever you prefer is fine. Thicker asparagus might need a longer cooking time, so just adjust as needed! Asparagus is in season from March through June, but you can usually find it into August and September pretty easily. Make sure to check the tops of the asparagus — you don't want any mushy ones!
    • Olive Oil - Whatever your favorite type of olive oil is is fine here. You could even use a garlic infused olive oil to really bring those garlic flavors forward. Neutral oils will also work, but idk, I like the olive oil flavor.
    • Soy Sauce - I use an aged soy sauce (also sometimes called "dark" soy sauce), but any type of soy sauce you like is fine. Aged soy sauces have been fermented longer and are usually thicker in consistency and less salty in flavor. I like the thicker consistency of the aged soy sauce for this recipe; thinner soy sauces don't cling as nicely to the asparagus.
    • Garlic Powder and/or Garlic Cloves - You really only need the garlic powder for this recipe. But if you want to be a little extra, tossing one or two small garlic cloves onto the pan will soften them and mellow their flavor. You can smash them and toss them with the asparagus and soy sauce to add a little extra garlic flavor. But that's optional.
    • Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which half as salty as other brands. If you're using a different brand of salt, even a different brand of kosher salt, cut the amount of salt in half.
    • Pepper - Freshly cracked or pre-ground black pepper, either one is absolutely fine here.

    Instructions

    The first step of making any asparagus dish is to trim the asparagus. You can either snap the ends off or use a knife to remove the bottom 2-3 inches.

    Basically try to get rid of the tough, woody bits at the bottom. They are no fun to eat.

    If you really want to be sure there's no tough woody bits, you can take a vegetable peeler to the ends of the asparagus to shave them off. I think that's a bit extra, I don't want to spend time doing that, but you do you.

    trimming asparagus with a knife on a cutting board

    I've made so much roasted asparagus in the past month that I have my favorite preparation down to a science at this point. I don't bring the asparagus all the way to a blister anymore.

    Instead I just give it a gentle but decisive roasting, like I'm an insult comic trying to turn over a new leaf but not quite there yet.

    Instead of the high heat of a cast iron on the stove which reliably set off the smoke detector every time I made it, I recommend using a quarter sheet pan in the oven lined with aluminum foil or a silicone mat.

    A drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a light sprinkle of garlic powder is really all the asparagus needs before heading into the oven.

    roasted asparagus lined up on a sheet pan

    If you're feeling ambitious, throw a few whole garlic cloves onto the pan with the asparagus and let them get all nice and soft in the oven — you can mash them up and toss the asparagus with them before serving. But honestly, that's an optional step.

    Pop the asparagus in a 400-425F oven for about 10-15 minutes and that's basically it.

    Once it comes out of the oven, finish with a very light drizzle of soy sauce and toss to coat the asparagus.

    Soy sauce has a really strong flavor, so less is more, imo. Drizzle a bit, then taste. Add more if needed, or serve with a small bowl of additional soy sauce for optional dipping.

    Practical Tips & Recipe Notes

    • If you're new to working with asparagus, it might take you a couple tries to figure out what your ideal asparagus stalk looks like. Sometimes you'll find really thick, chonky asparagus with woody stems and other times you'll find asparagus with very thin stems and dainty tops. I prefer the thinner asparagus, but it's really up to you.
    • To trim asparagus, hold the bottom of a stalk in one hand and hold above the woody part of the stem with the other. Bend until the tough end (which you don't want to eat) snaps off. You might be surprised at just how much comes off! If you're making huge batches of asparagus, you may want to use a knife instead — just cut off the bottom 2-3 inches.
    • Soy sauce can burn in the oven or in a skillet, so it's best to always drizzle it on last rather than cook the asparagus in it.
    • If you prefer using a skillet you can follow all of the same instructions, just toss the asparagus into a skillet over high heat for about 10 minutes or until they're as cooked through as you want. Add the soy sauce to finish once you take it off the heat.
    • I'm giving a range of cook temps — 400-425F — mostly because it really depends on how cooked through you want your asparagus to be. If you prefer it to be a little more green and fresh use the lower temp. For darker, softer asparagus, use the higher temp.
    • I've also tried this with broccoli, broccolini, and yes, even string beans as Alicia initially recommended. It's great with all of them.

    Bonus Tip

    My friend Emily suggested I try roasting the asparagus with mayonnaise instead of olive oil, which I had never heard of before. So I tossed the asparagus with about 2 tablespoon kewpie mayo + seasonings before roasting.

    While I still prefer EVOO just for simplicity, the mayo did really bring out the umami flavors and it helped the soy sauce cling to the asparagus once I tossed it all together. If you're a mayo fiend, this is something you might want to try!

    📖 Recipe

    a close up of roasted asparagus on a sheet pan with garlic cloves

    Roasted Asparagus with Garlic and Soy sauce

    Rebecca Eisenberg
    The umami-rich flavor combo of roasted asparagus with soy sauce and garlic is the kind of dish that turns asparagus haters into asparagus lovers. Even better? It is SO hands off to make, you'll find yourself loving it even more just because it takes you zero time at all to pull together.
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved! Email
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 20 mins
    Course Appetizer, Side Dish
    Cuisine American
    Servings 3 people

    Equipment

    • Quarter sheet pan
    • Heavy-duty aluminum foil

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 bunch asparagus (ends trimmed)
    • 2 tablespoon olive oil
    • ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt
    • ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ tablespoon aged soy sauce (adjust to taste)
    • 3 whole garlic cloves (skins still on, optional)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 400°-425°F. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or aluminum foil.
    • Arrange asparagus in an even layer on the sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, the sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roll the asparagus stalks around on the pan until coated.
    • If using, place whole garlic cloves on sheet pan nestled in with the asparagus.
    • Roast asparagus for 10-15 minutes or until desired level of doneness.
    • Remove from oven, drizzle with soy sauce. If you used the whole garlic cloves, remove the papery skins, mash them with a fork, and toss them with the asparagus and soy sauce before serving. Serve immediately.

    RECIPE NOTES

    • Measurements here are entirely adjustable to taste. You don't need to measure anything precisely. Just eyeball it. 
    • If you dont want to drizzle soy sauce over all of the asparagus, you can serve it in a dipping bowl on the side with a bit of garlic powder, or mashed roasted garlic cloves mixed in. 
    • I'm giving a range of cook temps — 400-425F — mostly because it really depends on how cooked through you want your asparagus to be. If you prefer it to be a little more green and fresh use the lower temp. For darker, softer asparagus, use the higher temp.

    YOUR NOTES

    Click here to add your own private notes. Only you can see these.
    Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and let me how it was!
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    Comments

    1. Nicole

      January 22, 2022 at 6:30 pm

      5 stars
      I made this for my parents when I was visiting and it was a hit! Super simple, and the only "complaint" was that I should have thrown several more cloves of garlic on the sheet pan for extra roasted garlic! Definitely going in my arsenal as a staple side-dish.

      Reply
    2. Leann

      June 08, 2022 at 9:36 am

      5 stars
      THIS IS SO GOOD! I was so surprised by how the flavors changed with that soy sauce at the end! I will absolutely be making this again and again and again.

      Reply

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