I love Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon! It’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy asparagus and has solidified it as one of my favorite vegetables. It has an earthy and slightly bitter flavor, so ingredients like brown sugar and bacon neutralize that and add amazing flavor and caramelization as it cooks.
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The bacon gets perfectly crisp in the oven, and the asparagus soaks up the fat to become perfectly tender and savory. I like to say the brown sugar sauce is optional, but it’s so necessary to get the best result possible!
If you like bacon-wrapped recipes, I am sure you will love my Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and these Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s only 4 ingredients plus spices: This is a super simple recipe that makes an amazing side dish. It’s only 4 ingredients, reducing the amount of prep needed. The only other components are garlic salt, and pepper!
- It’s keto-friendly: Bacon-wrapped asparagus is the perfect keto recipe. If you want, you can even omit the brown sugar sauce and still have a savory asparagus dish.
- It’s ready in less than 30 minutes: Prep and cooking time for this asparagus with bacon recipe takes less than 30 minutes total, and most of that time is spent in the oven! It truly doesn’t get any easier.
Ingredients
These are the main components of this recipe, besides the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Those are basic items everyone has in their kitchen!
- Asparagus: Ensure your asparagus is washed, dried, and trimmed before you begin. The ends of the asparagus are tough.
- Bacon: You can make this recipe with any variety of raw bacon that you like. I’m a huge fan of applewood or hickory smoked, but any kind is great!
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Spicy Cajun: Add your favorite Cajun seasoning blend to the asparagus for a spicy kick.
- Parmesan and herb: Sprinkle parmesan over the baked asparagus with bacon and broil it. Then, garnish with fresh herbs like parsley and thyme.
- Honey chipotle: Make the brown sugar sauce with honey and chipotle in adobo to brush over the bundles for a sweet heat.
- Sweet and savory: If you want add a bit of sweetness, sprinkle some brown sugar under the bacon before wrapping up the asparagus.
- Brown sugar sauce: Swap out the olive oil mixture for the brown sugar butter sauce instead.
How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus
Here are the instructions for making bacon-wrapped asparagus in the oven. This is for the base recipe. To prep, trim your asparagus and line your baking sheet with foil. You don’t need to preheat the oven for this one!
Step 1: Wrap the asparagus. Divide the asparagus into piles of 3-5 stalks. Then, wrap each bundle tightly with a strip of bacon and lay them out.
Step 2: Mix oil and spices. Combine the olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Mix the ingredients gently.
Step 3: Brush the bundles. Use a basting brush to generously brush the oil mixture onto the asparagus and bacon in each bundle.
Step 4: Bake and serve. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the asparagus is tender and the bacon is cooked and crispy. While it cooks, heat the butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic salt and pepper until it heats and starts to thicken.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t use thick-cut bacon: Regular or thin-cut is best for this bacon-wrapped asparagus recipe. Thick-cut bacon takes too long to cook, which risks the asparagus overcooking and becoming mushy.
- Try a wire rack for crispier bacon: Set your asparagus bundles onto a wire rack over the baking sheet. This will keep the bacon from sitting in the fat so it can get crispy all around without having to rotate the asparagus.
- Ensure the spears are of similar thickness: Grab your thicker asparagus spears for this to ensure they don't become mushy. If they are the same thickness, they will also cook at the same rate.
- Cover the asparagus tips: Sometimes, I like to wrap the tips of asparagus with foil. They get fairly brown in the oven, so I like to do this when I want less color.
If you love recipes like this unique asparagus dish, you may also enjoy these crispy Parmesan Asparagus spears.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can freeze the leftovers wrapped in foil and then place them in a Ziploc bag for up to 1 month but the texture may change after freezing.
- Reheating: For best results, these are best reheated in a 375°F oven or air fryer. They will take about 6-8 minutes in the air fryer or 10-12 minutes in the oven.
- Make Ahead: Prepare and wrap your asparagus up to 24 hours in advance and store it covered in the refrigerator. Then, they are ready to pop in the oven any time!
Serving Suggestions
- This makes a great side for seafood. Herb crusted salmon would pair perfectly with this asparagus recipe with bacon.
- It would work wonderfully as an accompaniment to a juicy bourbon burger or this savory and cheesy mac and cheese meatloaf.
- Try serving this asparagus-wrapped bacon recipe with a chicken dish like crockpot chicken spaghetti.
- The flavors of this lemon garlic aioli would complement the asparagus and bacon so well.
Recipe FAQs
Sure! Cook the asparagus at 400°F for 18-20 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Ensure the asparagus is tender and the bacon is crisp.
Preheat your grill to 400°F and cook the asparagus wrapped in bacon over indirect heat for 10-12 minutes, then over direct heat for 3-5 minutes, or until fully cooked.
Nope! It will cook just fine in the amount of time it takes to cook it wrapped in bacon strips.
More Delicious Asparagus Recipes
Do you like asparagus recipes? Here are some recipes you may also like to try.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section, I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon
Equipment
- rack
Ingredients
Easy Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Optional Brown Sugar Sauce
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare a rimmed baking sheet with foil and a rack coated in cooking spray. Set aside.
- Wash, trim and pat dry the asparagus. Divide asparagus into piles of 3 to 5 stalks each. The size of your piles will depending on the thickness of your asparagus spears.
- TIP: Cover asparagus tips with small pieces of tinfoil if desired. The tinfoil protects the asparagus tips from being burnt while baking.
- Tightly wrap the bacon tightly around the asparagus, overlapping slightly, starting at one end finishing almost at the other, and place on the rack. Secure with a toothpick if necessary.
- Mix the olive oil with the salt and pepper in a small bowl. Brush over the asparagus and bacon.
- Place the asparagus bundles on the prepared baking sheet. Turn oven on to 400 degrees. The bacon wrapped asparagus should be in the oven while it preheats.
- Bake with the oven rack on the upper middle position. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and asparagus is tender.
- Serve with sliced lemons and herbs, if desired.
- Turn your oven up to broil, if desired, to crisp bacon further for about another 2 minutes at the end. Make sure asparagus tips are covered with tinfoil or watch closely so the tips don't darken too much if you decide to broil.
Optional Brown Sugar Sauce
- If desired, combine butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic salt and pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Allow to simmer until mixture is hot and starts to thicken. I allow this to heat while I clean up my asparagus.
- Paint and baste mixture over wrapped asparagus (instead of olive oil mixture) and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Notes
- Sometimes I rub a little brown sugar into the bacon slices before wrapping them around each asparagus spear. Make sure the brown sugar side is touching your asparagus and is tightly wrapped.
- Store leftover asparagus wrapped in bacon in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Thin or regular-cut bacon will work best for this recipe because it will cook the most evenly.
- Try cooking your bacon-wrapped asparagus in the air fryer or grill instead of the oven.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in April 2016. It's been updated with new content and images.
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