Bacon Wrapped Asparagus is the perfect vegetable side dish for a fancy dinner.

When asparagus is in season and easily to find at the store, it’s so fun to include it in your fancy holiday dinner. It also pairs well with prime rib, mushroom sauce, and mashed potatoes…one of our favorite holiday dinners.

What you need to make Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

asparagus stalks
sliced bacon (do not use thick cut)
butter
garlic powder
brown sugar
pepper
chopped parsley (*optional garnish)

How to make Bacon Wrapped Asparagus:

Preheat: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Divide and wrap: Divide the asparagus stalks into 4 bundles. Tightly wrap one slice of bacon around each bundle.
Combine butter mixture: In a small bowl mix together the butter, garlic powder, brown sugar and pepper.
Place on pan and add butter: Arrange the asparagus bundles on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and drizzle the butter mixture over the top of the bacon.
Bake and serve: Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Serve warm, sprinkled with parsley if desired.

Make ahead options:

If you like your bacon more crispy, you can pre-bake it before adding the asparagus in the oven at 400 for 10-15 minutes. Just form the bacon into little loops so that it cooks into the form you need it to be then add the asparagus.
You can also cook it with the asparagus as the recipe suggests and then just warm it up in the oven before serving. This is a nice option if you have other things competing for the oven like the main dish.

Thin vs. Thick Asparagus:

Thin or thick asparagus is a personal preference. I prefer more thin asparagus, because it is more tender, but if a thicker stalk asparagus is all you are able to find at the store, it will work great for this recipe. Please note that the thinner asparagus stalks cook faster than the thicker stalks, so to avoid them getting mushy, it might be helpful to pre-cook the bacon and then add the asparagus to time them to your liking.

Tips and Tricks:

Preheat your oven to 400 F degrees. You want the bacon to get crispy and the asparagus to steam.
For more crispy bacon, you can pre-cook the bacon in the oven on parchment paper. Make sure to form each strip of bacon into a round loop so that it will cook into the shape you want when you add the asparagus.
About 4-5 stalks of asparagus work for each bundle with the bacon. The more thin the asparagus stalks, the more you can add to each bundle.

How to trim asparagus ends?

I find it easiest to hold the asparagus stalk toward the end. Bend the stalk and it will snap where the woody part meets the more tender part of the stalk. You can do this for each one, or to speed things up, you can line them up on a cutting board and use the first one you snapped to be your guide to cut the rest at the same spot.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

The perfect fancy vegetable side dish. Crispy bacon and steamed asparagus come together for a delicious combination.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

3 lb asparagus stalks ends trimmed off
1 16oz. package sliced bacon do not use thick cut
2 tablespoons butter (salted) melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley *optional garnish

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Divide the asparagus stalks into 4 bundles. Tightly wrap one slice of bacon around each bundle.
In a small bowl mix together the melted butter, garlic powder, brown sugar and pepper.
Arrange the asparagus bundles on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and drizzle the butter mixture over the top of the bacon.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. Serve warm, sprinkled with parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes

*If you prefer more crispy bacon, you can pre-bake the bacon in the oven before adding the asparagus. Just make sure to form each slice of bacon into a round loop so that it cooks into the shape you need it to be when you go to add the asparagus.

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