Quick 20-Minute Asparagus with Soy Sauce
This umami-rich flavor combo of crispy roasted asparagus stalks with soy sauce and garlic is the kind of side dish that turns asparagus haters into asparagus lovers. This quick 20-minute, oven-roasted asparagus recipe is simple and SO hands off to make, too. You’ll find yourself loving it even more just because it takes so little time to pull together. (Made without parmesan cheese!)
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus (ends trimmed)
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ cup aged soy sauce (adjust to taste)
- 2 whole garlic cloves (skins still on, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat or aluminum foil.
- Trim and arrange asparagus in an even layer on the sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roll the asparagus stalks around on the pan until coated.
- Place two whole garlic cloves, still in their paper skins, on the sheet pan nestled in with the asparagus.
- Roast asparagus for 13-20 minutes or until desired level of doneness is reached.
- Pour the soy sauce into a small bowl. Use a knife to snip off the root end of the roasted garlic cloves (caution: they're hot!) and squish the soft roasted garlic out of the papery skin and into the soy sauce. Mash the garlic into the soy sauce with a fork.
- Drizzle a few spoonfuls of garlic soy sauce over the roasted asparagus. Serve any extra garlic soy sauce on the side for dipping. Serve immediately.
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.
Choosing the right temperature and time for your roasted asparagus depends on how you like to eat your asparagus! For roasted asparagus that's bright green, and a little firmer after roasting, use a lower temp and shorter roasting time (e.g. 400°F for 13-15 minutes).For roasted asparagus that's dark green with blackened tips and a softer center, use the higher temp and a longer cook time (e.g. 425°F for 15-20 minutes).
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 the garlic soy sauce over all of the asparagus, you can serve it in a dipping bowl on the side.
- Honestly, you can totally skip mashing the garlic cloves into the soy sauce if you want; just plain soy sauce drizzled over the garlicky asparagus is an extremely tasty shortcut version of this dish!
- 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!