Perfect Air Fryer Asparagus

This Air Fryer Asparagus has crispy tips and tender stalks. It takes half of the time to cook with only 4 simple ingredients – the best roasted asparagus for a healthy side dish!

This recipe is vegan, low-carb and Keto. It’s so fast to throw together and can be served with chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, or almost everything!

It’s incredibly easy to cook asparagus in the air fryer, and it comes out perfect every time. Once you try it, you’ll never go back!

So why do I like it so much? Not only does it produce the crispiest skin, it’s also much faster as I don’t have to wait for the oven to pre-heat. In addition, unlike the oven, it won’t heat-up my entire kitchen either.

How to make air fryer roasted asparagus?

Start with fresh asparagus. Look for bright green color with firm stems. Make sure the tips are closed and compact. 

Pro tip: If you don’t cook your asparagus right away, it’s best to place them in a heavy-bottomed glass with about 2-inch water, making sure all the ends are sitting in the water. 

Wash the asparagus and dry them properly. Trim the ends as they are usually tough and woody. You can use the bend-and-snap trick to break off the end if you have time. But I like to slice off the ends of a bunch all at once. It’s much faster with a clean cut. 

Place the trimmed asparagus in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil (I recommend using an oil with a high smoke point). Then season with salt and pepper and toss until they are evenly coated with oil. This helps to crisp up the tip and skin, plus it will help the seasoning to stick to the skins. 

Place the seasoned asparagus in the air fryer basket and cook them at 360ºF degrees for about 5-8 minutes. Take a peek after 4 minutes, and use tongs to flip them. 

Mine takes 5 minutes. They look absolutely perfect! (See the photo below)

How long to cook asparagus in an air fryer?

The cooking time depends on the temperature you set and size of the asparagus. As the air fryer is more powerful than the oven, you need to lower the cooking temp slightly. For this recipe, I recommend setting the temperature to 360ºF degrees. 

For thinner stems, it’ll take about 5-7 minutes, while thicker stems will take about 7-10 minutes to cook. I recommend taking the basket out after 4 minutes and flipping the asparagus. Continue to cook and check every 1 minute. Avoid overcooking your asparagus as it can become burned and too soft.

Tips for making air fryer asparagus:

• Make sure each spear is evenly coated with oil when tossing the asparagus. This will help to crisp up the tips and skins. It’s easier to use your hands to coat the asparagus with the oil.
• Don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket. I recommend cooking 1 bunch of asparagus at a time (it’s enough for 4 people as a side dish). 
• Different-sized asparagus have different cook times. It takes 5 minutes to cook my pencil-thin asparagus at 360ºF. If yours is thicker, you might need to cook them longer. You can always put them back in for a few more minutes until they’re perfectly cooked.

Seasoning variations

This recipe uses basic simple seasoning of salt and pepper, and topped with parmesan cheese. You can also try some other seasonings, and here are some ideas:

• Lemon and butter
• Add red pepper flakes to make it spicy.
• You can add garlic and fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme.

Recipe tools for making air fryer asparagus

• Air Fryer: This is my second air fryer and I absolutely love it!
• Tongs: To flip and removing asparagus from the basket.
• Mixing bowls

Note: Above are Amazon affiliate links.

Other Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love:

• Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
• Air Fryer Potato Chips
• Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs

Please let me know how your air fryer asparagus turns out in the comments below! I’m also looking forward to hearing which seasoning you like most.