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Preparing Asparagus Properly is Not an Art!

Asparagus is often said to have a certain complexity. Cooking asparagus properly is not difficult at all.

Tips for buying asparagus

The sticks must be bright and firm, the tips should be closed. If you rub two spears of asparagus together, they should squeak with freshness!

The best thing to do is to start thinking about it when you go shopping: local asparagus will be available from mid-April. Freshly cut, without long transport routes, asparagus simply tastes best. Check interfaces when shopping: They must not be dry or even moldy and juice should come out when you squeeze them. The sticks must be bright and firm, the tips should be closed. If you rub two spears of asparagus together, they should squeak with freshness!

Store asparagus properly

If you don’t want to overcook your freshly bought stick vegetables right away, you can wrap them in a cloth (e.g. tea towel) moistened with lemon water and keep them in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator for a few days (max. 3). If you want to freeze asparagus, you should prepare it ready to cook beforehand, i.e. cut off any woody ends and peel the rest. It is not necessary to blanch asparagus before freezing. Do not thaw the frozen asparagus before preparation, but place it directly in the boiling water.

Peel the asparagus properly

Before preparation, wash the asparagus briefly, pat dry, and peel with a vegetable or asparagus peeler. To do this, place the asparagus on your forearm and hold it with all your fingers except your little finger. Then use an asparagus peeler to peel from the bottom of the tip to the end of the stalk; meanwhile, turn the asparagus with your fingers. Green asparagus does not have to be peeled that far, the lower third is usually enough. With white asparagus, it pays to peel a little more generously, preferably starting under the head. Don’t throw away the asparagus shells! You can boil them for an aromatic asparagus broth that can be used to infuse creamy soups and sauces.

More about asparagus

Asparagus (lat. Asparagus Officinalis) belongs to the lily family. The perennial shrub grows to a height of about 1 m and has a woody rootstock. The asparagus buds begin to sprout at the top of the root. In spring from a soil temperature of 15 °C, the rhizome puts out many finger-thick sprouts that are white in color and turn green as soon as they come out into the open.

White and variegated asparagus

White asparagus has a typically fine asparagus aroma, is very tender, and has fewer bitter substances than other asparagus. The rungs are protected from the sunlight by mounds of earth to keep them white. White asparagus is cut 20 to 25 cm below the ground.

Green asparagus is cultivated without ridges, is tender and fine, but has a more intense taste. It is becoming increasingly popular and cultivated more and more often. Today, the proportion of green asparagus is over ten percent.

Purple asparagus contains more anthocyanins, which turns it purple. It originally comes from Italy and therefore needs more sun and warmth. Occasionally you can buy the slightly sweeter purple asparagus in Austria, more towards the end of the season.

That’s why you should eat asparagus

Asparagus consists of 90% water, the rest is valuable vitamins, minerals such as potassium, and hardly any calories (20 kcal per 100 g). It also scores vitamins A, C, and folic acid.

It’s a good thing that asparagus grows in spring, because it stimulates the metabolism, supports the liver and kidneys, and has a draining effect. However, people with a tendency to have kidney stones and high blood uric acid levels should be more careful with asparagus. Asparagus gets its typical taste from aspartic acid, which is important for the urea cycle and stimulates kidney function. After eating asparagus, the urine gets a peculiar smell.

Harvesting asparagus is manual work!

From mid-April to at the latest on St. John’s Day on June 24th, asparagus is harvested, as the harvest of the spear is known in technical jargon. Incidentally, asparagus can only be harvested by hand!

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Cooking Tips

Cooking Asparagus: This is How Long Green and White Asparagus Take

If you want to cook asparagus, you should read this guide. You have to cook asparagus gently and over low heat. Here you can find out what else you need to know about white and green asparagus.

If you want to cook asparagus, you should know the following: White and green asparagus differ not only in appearance, but also in harvesting and cooking time. White asparagus grows underground, green asparagus above ground, and the latter therefore cooks much faster than white asparagus.

Cooking white asparagus: Cooking time and cooking test

Here’s what you need to cook white asparagus for two:

1 kg of white asparagus spears
2 tsp salt
1 tsp butter or vegan margarine
1 pinch of sugar
optional: 1 slice of organic lemon
How to cook white asparagus:

Peel the asparagus first. Because even if you cook the skin of the white asparagus longer, it will not become soft.
Place the asparagus spears in a large pot or pan of boiling water. It is important that the poles are completely covered with water.
Add salt, sugar and butter or margarine. The sugar softens possible bitter substances. You can also add a slice of organic lemon. This provides a slightly fresher taste and makes the white asparagus shine.
Briefly boil the asparagus and then let it cook over low heat. How long depends on the thickness of the asparagus spears. A rule of thumb:
Grade I: cook for 10 to 15 minutes
Grade II: cook for 8 to 10 minutes
Cooking test: If you lift the asparagus spears with a fork, they will bend downwards. Depending on whether you want the asparagus to be soft or al dente, they should bend more or less. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can pierce the ends of the asparagus spears with a knife – the asparagus tastes best when it is soft and yet has resistance.

Tip: Asparagus works particularly well in an asparagus pot. Place the asparagus spears upright so you can cook them standing up. However, this does not change the cooking time. You can prepare the white asparagus particularly gently in the steamer. At 100 degrees Celsius, the asparagus spears also need between ten and 15 minutes.

Boil or fry green asparagus

To peel green asparagus you only have to remove the outer layer in the lower third. The shell in the upper area is very soft.

How to cook green asparagus:

Add two teaspoons of salt, a pinch of sugar and a slice of organic lemon to the cooking water and let the asparagus spears cook over low heat.
Green asparagus is ready after just six to eight minutes. If you have very thin sticks, they can be cooked after five minutes.
Never cook green asparagus in water for too long. Otherwise the asparagus head will quickly become mushy.
You can also find out whether the asparagus are ready with the green asparagus with the fork test or by piercing them (see white asparagus).
Fry green asparagus:

Put some oil or butter in a pan.
Fry the asparagus spears or asparagus pieces over high heat for about five minutes.
Turn them regularly.
Then season them with salt and white pepper.

Recipe tip: Make a soup from asparagus broth

When the asparagus is done, the asparagus water remains. You can use this to cook a delicious asparagus soup instead of pouring the broth away. You need the following ingredients per liter of asparagus water:

200 ml organic cream or vegetable cream substitute,
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tablespoons organic flour,
some salt, pepper and fresh chives.
Preparation:

Put the butter or margarine in a saucepan and heat it up.
Put some flour in the saucepan and mix it with the melted butter to make a roux.
Mix the finished roux with the asparagus water and the cream.
Thicken the soup with some flour dissolved in water if it is too runny for you.
Then all you have to do is boil them up and season with salt and pepper.

Shopping tips for asparagus

Even if the first asparagus is often available in the supermarkets in March, the asparagus season in Germany does not start until mid-April. Bad weather can also delay the harvest time for asparagus cultivation by up to eight weeks.

The asparagus in March, on the other hand, comes from heated fields that are often covered with plastic sheeting. High energy consumption and unnecessary plastic make asparagus a small environmental sin. Imported asparagus is also not recommended, since the long transport routes lead to high CO2 emissions.

If you want to cook asparagus, it is best to buy it from the region and if possible in organic quality. This is how you can be sure that the asparagus is free of chemical-synthetic pesticides.

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Eating Raw Asparagus: Pros and Cons

If you want to eat asparagus raw, you should use thin spears. In this article you will find out what else you should pay attention to and the advantages and disadvantages of raw asparagus.

April to June is asparagus time in this country: this is when the healthy vegetables end up on the plates of asparagus lovers, often several times a week. Cooked asparagus is the most popular, but you can also roast or otherwise prepare asparagus.

What many people don’t know: You can also eat asparagus raw. We tell you what is important.

Eating raw asparagus: edible and healthy

Yes, you can also eat asparagus raw. The raw vegetable is neither poisonous nor indigestible. Raw asparagus is said to be particularly healthy:

100g of raw asparagus contains 2.2g of protein, 2g of fiber and virtually no fat. With a water content of 93 percent, asparagus in its raw form can help hydrate the body.
In addition, asparagus provides important minerals: 100 g of raw asparagus contain 24 mg of calcium, 14 mg of magnesium and 202 mg of potassium.
Of particular interest: raw asparagus is also rich in folate (52 µg per 100g), vitamin K (41.6 µg per 100g) and vitamin C (5.6 mg per 100g). In addition, asparagus provides vitamin E (1.13 mg per 100g) and vitamins B1 and B2. Many vitamins are heat-sensitive and would be largely lost during cooking.
A 2011 study confirms this. The scientists found that the longer asparagus is heated, the more nutrients are lost. The vegetables were even blanched – a preparation method that is considered gentle.
Asparagus has been shown to have a diuretic effect. This effect is said to be stronger with raw asparagus than in its cooked form – but we could not find any scientific evidence for this.
Note: It is of course not the case that cooked asparagus no longer contains any beneficial nutrients, as not all nutrients are heat-sensitive. Especially when it comes to vitamin C, vitamin B1 and vitamin B9, asparagus performs better in its raw form.

On the other hand, asparagus also contains ferulic acid, which according to the BBC, our body can only access well after heating. Ferulic acid has an antioxidant effect and can thus protect against oxidative stress. From a health point of view, it is therefore worth not always eating asparagus raw and instead varying the preparation methods.

Raw asparagus: taste and purchase recommendation

Raw asparagus does not differ from the cooked variant in terms of nutrients, but also in terms of taste: The typical asparagus aroma, which lovers appreciate so much, only develops under the influence of heat and is therefore missing in the raw preparation. Fresh asparagus is particularly juicy when raw and, in addition to the slightly nutty aroma, is also reminiscent of pea pods. Raw asparagus also tastes slightly sweet, which makes it particularly appetizing.

If you want to eat asparagus raw, you should prefer thin spears. The thicker the asparagus, the tart and bitter it tastes. In addition, asparagus tastes better the fresher it is. This is why regional asparagus is always ahead of imported goods.

You can eat both green and white asparagus raw. From an ecological point of view, however, green asparagus is more advisable, since white asparagus must be protected from the sunlight with plastic films when growing.

In general, we therefore recommend that you buy green asparagus regionally and seasonally. Organic quality is also important, as conventional asparagus is often contaminated with pesticides.

Prepare asparagus raw – it’s that easy

You always have to peel white asparagus. But don’t just throw away the peel: you can use it to prepare a delicious asparagus peel soup. If, on the other hand, you decide to use green asparagus, you should definitely leave the peel on. Most of the vitamins are just under the skin.

You can easily prepare raw asparagus:

Wash the asparagus.
If the lower end is purple-whitish and hard, you should definitely peel this part and cut off the mostly dried end.
If the asparagus is green all the way through, you only need to cut off the lower end a finger’s width. Alternatively, you can also break the asparagus – it usually breaks directly above the end that is too tight.
If the asparagus spears are very thick and the skin feels hard, peel only the bottom third of the asparagus.
You can then use the asparagus in any recipe.

You can eat the asparagus prepared in this way raw, for example, as follows:

Marinated asparagus: Cut the raw asparagus into fine strips and leave them in a marinade for about 20 minutes. In a separate article, we present five recipes for delicious marinades. You can serve the asparagus marinated in this way with fresh lettuce and, if necessary, some cheese.
Asparagus sticks with dip: You can use whole or halved asparagus stalks for dipping. This goes well with homemade hummus or pesto, for example. Also, try our vegan dips.
Mushroom and asparagus salad: cut into fine strips, you can use raw asparagus with fried mushrooms, tomatoes, and a delicious dressing made from olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper to create a delicious salad. You can find the whole recipe in our How to Prepare Green Asparagus article – just skip the step of frying the asparagus.
Tomato and asparagus salad with mozzarella: A raw vegetable salad made from asparagus, cherry tomatoes, spring onions and mozzarella cheese is also delicious. Serve with vinaigrette dressing.
Asparagus and strawberry salad: In this country, asparagus and strawberries are in season at the same time. That’s why you can use these two ingredients to prepare a delicious, special kind of salad. Just follow our asparagus recipe and skip the step of frying the asparagus.
Smoothie with asparagus: Those who like to experiment with asparagus can also prepare a smoothie with asparagus. However, you should start slowly at first, as the asparagus taste can quickly become too intense if the quantities are too large.
Tip: Try eating raw ginger – it is particularly rich in vitamins and nutrients. The same applies to many other foods: You can also eat zucchini raw, for example.

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Peeling Green Asparagus: You Should Pay Attention to This When Cooking It

Peeling green asparagus is quick, but in many cases it is not necessary. We will show you what you have to consider and how to properly process green asparagus.

In contrast to white asparagus, green asparagus are not pricked as soon as the head sticks out of the ground, but continues to grow in the sun. That is why green asparagus does not need black foil. Sunlight gives it its green colour, plus more healthy vitamins and a stronger flavor than white asparagus.

Since green asparagus is less expensive to grow and harvest than white, it is usually a little cheaper. It is also less complicated to prepare. Because of its thin skin, you usually don’t have to peel green asparagus! If you buy it seasonally, you can also be sure that its growth has not been artificially accelerated by heaters or thermal foils. So there is a lot to be said for accessing seasonal green asparagus.

Note: The use of foil when growing white asparagus makes it a real problem for the environment. Not only does the film pollute the environment during its production and disposal, it also destroys the natural habitat of many endangered bird species.

Peel, cut, or break green asparagus?

Whether or not you need to peel green asparagus depends on how it was harvested. If the bottom third is purple-whitish and hard, be sure to peel that part and cut off the dried ends. The white rim has not yet seen sunlight and will still be very firm and brittle after cooking.

When the asparagus is green all the way through, just cut off the end an inch. You should never peel the green and soft asparagus skin. Most of the vitamins are just under the skin. If the asparagus spears are still very thick and the skin feels hard, peel only the lower third.

You can also break green asparagus instead of cutting them. Since the inedible part cannot be broken off, the asparagus will break off above the woody end. So you don’t have to use a peeler or knife and you can prepare your asparagus quickly and easily. For this, the asparagus must be very fresh and crisp.

Green asparagus tastes best fresh from the market. If necessary, you can wrap it in a damp cloth in the fridge and keep it fresh for a few days.

In order to avoid long transport routes and to protect the environment and climate, you should only buy asparagus regionally and seasonally. To be sure your asparagus is chemical-synthetic free, buy organic asparagus.

Boil green asparagus

The easiest way to prepare green asparagus is in boiling salted water. The cooking time is significantly shorter than with white asparagus and, depending on the thickness, is only around eight minutes.

In order for the asparagus to keep its bright green color, you can also add some white vinegar or lemon juice to the cooking water and shock the asparagus with ice water when they are done.

Or you can simply fry green asparagus in a pan with some cooking oil or fat. Cut into fine pieces, it is cooked within five minutes.

Of course, asparagus can also be grilled or put in the oven as an asparagus casserole. Green asparagus soup tastes particularly delicious. You can also use the woody ends that you removed earlier and boil them as a broth for the soup. In this way you use every gram of your precious asparagus and there are no leftovers that you have to throw away at the end.

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Vegan Sauce Hollandaise: The Asparagus Classic Without Animal Cruelty

You can serve vegan Hollandaise sauce wonderfully with asparagus. We’ll show you how to prepare the classic sauce – without egg and without butter.

If you’ve ever tried to make the classic hollandaise sauce yourself, you know it’s not easy. Because if the water bath or butter is too hot, the sauce will curdle very quickly. You are on the safe side from the start with our recipe for vegan hollandaise sauce.

If possible, use regional organic products for the ingredients for your vegan hollandaise sauce. You can use seals such as Demeter, Naturland, and Bioland as a guide, which follow stricter criteria than the EU organic seal.

Vegan Sauce Hollandaise: The recipe

Ingredients:

250g margarine
200 ml cold (asparagus) water
3 tbsp cornstarch (level tbsp)
200 mloat cream
1 pinch(s) of salt some pepper
1 pinch(s) nutmeg
0.5 tsp turmeric (optional)

Directions:

Pour the cold (asparagus) water into a measuring cup. Stir in the cornstarch with a whisk until there are no lumps.
Place the vegan margarine in a medium or large saucepan. Melt them on low. Make sure it doesn’t start bubbling.
While the margarine melts, briefly bring the water and starch mixture to a boil. So the dusty taste of the cornstarch disappears.
Gradually pour the water mixture into the melted margarine while stirring with the whisk. Stir until you get a thick consistency. Warning: You may not need the entire starch mixture for this – depending on how thick you want your vegan hollandaise sauce to be.
Stir in the oat cream and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Optional: Use some turmeric at the end to give your vegan hollandaise sauce a stronger color.

This is how you can use the vegan hollandaise sauce

Sauce Hollandaise goes wonderfully with asparagus, but also with various other vegetables or potatoes.

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Shelled Asparagus Soup: A Simple Recipe

You should never throw away asparagus peel, because you can use it to cook a tasty asparagus soup. In our simple recipe, we show you how easy it is to cook a delicious asparagus soup with just a few ingredients.

Cooking asparagus soup from asparagus peels – the ingredients

It is best to buy white asparagus during the asparagus season from mid-April to June. Make sure that the asparagus comes from the region, as long transport routes are bad for the climate. In addition, you should only use organic asparagus, since conventional asparagus spears are treated with chemical-synthetic pesticides. Organically grown asparagus is usually a bit more expensive, so you should definitely use the asparagus skin as well – for example for an asparagus soup. Because the peel is also very aromatic and you avoid wasting food. With three small changes to the recipe, you can also prepare the asparagus soup vegan.

For two servings you need the following ingredients:

Peel of 500 g white asparagus
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
10 g butter or vegan margarine
2 tbsp flour
optionally 1 egg yolk
50 g whipped cream or vegan cream
Pepper, nutmeg and chervil to taste

Recipe: cook asparagus soup from bowls

Wash the asparagus shells.
Put the peels in a saucepan with the salt, sugar and lemon juice and add enough water to cover the peels.
Bring the water with the peels to a boil and then let them simmer for about ten minutes.
Pour the soup through a sieve and collect the liquid in a saucepan. The asparagus shells are now boiled and you can dispose of them in the organic waste.
Then, in a tall saucepan, prepare a roux by heating butter in a separate saucepan, adding the flour and mixing well.
Then gradually add the asparagus peel water to the roux. Be sure to stir regularly and vigorously to avoid lumps later in the soup.
Season the soup with a little salt and then briefly boil it again.
Take the pot off the stove, mix the egg yolks and cream together and add both to the soup.
Tip: Asparagus contains bitter substances, especially under the skin. Therefore, do not cook the peel for too long. This way you avoid too many bitter substances going into your soup.

You can serve the soup now and serve it with chervil or grilled asparagus, for example. However, you should not boil the soup again, otherwise the egg would clump together.

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Asparagus Risotto: Simple Recipe for the Asparagus Season

You can prepare asparagus risotto with green and white asparagus. You also need risotto rice, of course. We will show you a simple basic recipe for asparagus risotto.

When the asparagus season begins in April, you can prepare the fresh asparagus from the region in many different ways. If you don’t just want to eat it as a vegetable side dish, you can also use it in an asparagus risotto. You can find an easy recipe for it here.

Make sure to buy the ingredients for your asparagus risotto in organic quality and regionally. We can particularly recommend the organic seals from Demeter, Bioland and Naturland, as they follow stricter criteria than the EU organic guidelines.

Asparagus risotto: ingredients for the recipe

For the asparagus risotto you can use white and green asparagus – whichever you prefer. You can also combine the two varieties, as in our recipe. For two portions of risotto with asparagus you need these ingredients:

250 g white asparagus
250 g green asparagus
2 shallots
150 g risotto rice
3 tbsp butter
100 ml white wine (e.g. organic wine)
500 ml vegetable stock (tip: make your own vegetable stock)
sugar, salt and pepper
the juice of half a lemon
a few walnuts
80 g (vegan) Parmesan

Tip: If you would rather only use one type of asparagus for your asparagus risotto, simply use 500 grams of the preferred variant. You can also use broken pieces of asparagus or leftovers of cooked asparagus from other dishes.

Recipe: Cook asparagus risotto in 7 steps

You should plan about an hour for the cooking of the asparagus risotto:

First you wash and peel the asparagus. Peel white asparagus completely, green asparagus you peel only the lower centimeters. You should cut off the woody ends.
Cut the asparagus into pieces about 3 centimeters long. You should not throw away the remaining skin of the asparagus. Instead, you can make an asparagus soup out of the shell.
Pour about 500 milliliters of water into a saucepan and add some sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the asparagus pieces. Let the asparagus simmer on low heat for about ten minutes. Then drain well.
Peel and dice the shallots. Heat some butter in a saucepan and sauté until translucent. Add the risotto rice and steam it until translucent. But be careful: he shouldn’t get brown.
Pour the white wine into the saucepan and stir well until it has completely evaporated. Now gradually add some vegetable broth so that the rice is always just covered. This all takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, you should keep stirring well so that nothing burns. At the end, the asparagus risotto should have a creamy consistency and not be too runny. So if you don’t use up all of the vegetable broth, that’s no problem.
When the risotto has reached the desired consistency, add the asparagus pieces, a tablespoon of butter, the juice of half a lemon and about 50 grams of grated (vegan) Parmesan.
Season with salt and pepper and gently stir the asparagus risotto. Divide between two plates and garnish with the remaining Parmesan and walnuts. Tip: You can roast the walnut kernels in the pan for a few minutes beforehand.

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Asparagus Casserole: Classic From the Oven

Asparagus casserole is a classic in the asparagus season. You can prepare the delicious dish both vegetarian and vegan – in both cases it is very easy and quick.

Asparagus is usually in season in Germany from mid-April. You can get some varieties from regional cultivation as early as March – but these often have a bad climate balance. Because in order to let asparagus ripen so early, fields are often heated. You can find more information here: Asparagus season: Beginning and end of the asparagus season in Germany.

We will show you a simple recipe for asparagus casserole with a vegan version.

Simple asparagus casserole: the ingredients

You can enrich this basic recipe for asparagus casserole with other seasonal vegetables as you wish. Here you will find a vegetarian version that consists of a combination of potatoes and asparagus.

For a casserole dish you will need:

  • 500 grams of potatoes
  • 700 g white asparagus
  • two sprigs of parsley or chives
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 200 g (vegan) cream
  • salt, pepper, nutmeg
  • optional: 100 g grated (vegan) cheese for gratinating

Vegan alternative: If you want the casserole to be vegan, you have to leave out the eggs and cream. In this case, you can make a sauce from oat cream and some vegetable broth, for example. You can gratinate the casserole with vegan cheese or yeast melt.

Prepare asparagus casserole in just a few steps

The asparagus casserole takes about 25 to 30 minutes in the oven. Including preparation, you should definitely plan an hour.

Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water for 15 minutes.
Let cool, then cut into bite-sized cubes or pieces.
Peel the asparagus, remove the woody ends and cut into bite-sized pieces. Boil it in water for about fifteen minutes.
Wash and chop the parsley. Mix them together with the cooked potatoes and cooked asparagus in a bowl. Pour everything into a casserole dish.
Now mix the eggs with the cream and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the vegetables
Bake the casserole at 165 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes. You don’t need to preheat the oven. When the asparagus casserole starts to brown slightly on top, you can remove it.

Tip: If you don’t like potatoes in the casserole, you can simply leave them out. Instead, you use about twice the amount of asparagus.

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Freezing Asparagus: How to Make It Durable

You can freeze fresh asparagus and eat it out of season. This works just as well with white asparagus as with green asparagus. We show you what you have to consider.

You should always buy fresh asparagus during the asparagus season and from the region. Because imported asparagus causes high CO2 emissions, which are not necessary. If you also want to eat asparagus out of season, you can freeze the asparagus spears.

When buying, make sure to choose organic asparagus, as conventional asparagus is often contaminated with chemical-synthetic pesticides.

Tips for freezing asparagus

Before you freeze the asparagus, be sure to peel it. You can find out more about this here: Peeling green asparagus and peeling white asparagus. You don’t have to throw away the peel – how about an asparagus soup made from the peel as a starter?
You should also cut off the woody ends now.
Don’t blanch or cook asparagus before freezing it. Because otherwise it loses its taste.
It is best to freeze the asparagus in portions and airtight. So you can easily remove it without having to defrost all the sticks at once.

After freezing: Thaw and prepare asparagus

While many foods should be thawed gently, exactly the opposite makes sense with asparagus:

It is best to put the still frozen asparagus directly into the boiling salted water. If the asparagus thaws beforehand, it loses its taste with the melted water. The asparagus needs about eight to twelve minutes in the boiling water until it is cooked.
Frozen asparagus is also good for grilling: after freezing, asparagus cooks a little faster than fresh spears. After about five minutes on the grill, you can eat it.
If you want to fry the frozen asparagus, you should cut it into small pieces before freezing. After about five minutes they are done.


You can also use the frozen asparagus for salads or vegan chicken fricassee. This is a good alternative if the asparagus has lost too much flavor during freezing.
After freezing, the asparagus can be kept for at least six months.

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Storing Asparagus: Store Them Properly for More Freshness

Storing asparagus properly will help the vegetables stay fresher for longer. We give you tips for white and green asparagus and also show you how to store asparagus dishes.

How long you can store asparagus depends on its condition: peeled, unpeeled, or already cooked. In this article, you will find out how best to store white and green asparagus and what you should pay attention to when storing prepared asparagus dishes.

Vegetable asparagus is one of around 200 species from the genus asparagus. You can find the young shoots of the plant in stores. Germany is the largest asparagus producer in Europe and one of the five largest asparagus producers in the world.

The asparagus season in Europe runs from April to the end of June. In order to avoid long transport routes and to protect the environment and climate, you should only buy asparagus regionally and seasonally. Buy organic asparagus to be sure they are free of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Store white asparagus correctly

In the trade, you usually get white asparagus packed in bundles that are fixed with a rubber band. To keep the white asparagus fresh for a long time, proceed as follows:

  • Remove the rubber band from the asparagus. The rubber cuts into the asparagus spear and prevents fluid exchange between the cells. This will dry out the asparagus faster. Tip: Don’t throw away the ribbons, but keep using them, for example to make Easter eggs.
  • Check all asparagus spears for rotten or moldy spots and cut them off if necessary. Pay particular attention to the sensitive asparagus tips and the cut.
  • Remove spoiled asparagus spears.
  • Wrap the asparagus in a damp, clean kitchen towel to keep it fresher longer.
  • It is best to keep white asparagus unpeeled and lying flat in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator.

Stored in a damp cloth in the refrigerator, white asparagus stays crisp for up to 4 days.

Tip: You can freshen up slightly dried-out spears by cutting off the dry ends and briefly placing the asparagus spears in cold water.

Store green asparagus correctly

Green asparagus stays fresh best when stored upright.

As already described for the white asparagus, remove the rubber band from the asparagus.
Check all asparagus spears for rotten or moldy spots and cut them off if necessary. Pay particular attention to the sensitive asparagus tips and the cut.
Remove spoiled asparagus spears.
Place the asparagus spears in a vase or jug of cold water.
You can also wrap the tips in a beeswax wrap to protect them from wilting. Tip: You can also make oilcloths yourself.
Place the “bunch of asparagus” in a cool place out of direct sunlight. The refrigerator, the cellar, or the pantry are also suitable for this.
Green asparagus will keep in a cool vase for 3 to 4 days.

Store peeled asparagus correctly

You should prepare peeled asparagus within a few hours.

Store peeled asparagus in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Process the peeled asparagus within 3 to 4 hours.
If you have already peeled the asparagus and then prefer not to cook it, you should freeze the asparagus to prevent spoilage. Fill the cut asparagus in portions into freezer cans or into a glass dish with a lid. Tip: Freeze food in a jar: this is how it works

Frozen asparagus will keep for up to 6 months. Use frozen asparagus for your meal without defrosting it first.

Recipe ideas for the preparation of asparagus

Asparagus can be prepared in many different ways as a starter, soup, salad or main meal. You can find recipes for it here:

  • Shelled asparagus soup
  • Asparagus Cream Soup
  • Recipe ideas for asparagus salad
  • Asparagus risotto
  • asparagus bake
  • Asparagus quiche
  • Springlike asparagus tarte flambée
  • Asparagus strawberry salad
  • Fried noodles with asparagus
  • Asparagus casserole: classic from the oven
  • and more asparagus recipes

You can eat asparagus raw, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Or get creative with the following cooking methods:

  • Grilled asparagus
  • Roasted asparagus
  • Cooked asparagus
  • Asparagus from the oven

Store asparagus dishes correctly

Asparagus dishes should be eaten as fresh as possible. Even cooked asparagus only stays fresh to a very limited extent. If you store cooked asparagus for too long, bitter substances will develop.

If something is left over, do the following:

  • Pack the asparagus dish in a well-sealable tin. Alternatively, you can store asparagus sauce or asparagus soup in a small saucepan with a lid.
  • Store the asparagus dish at refrigerator temperature.
  • You should eat the asparagus dish within a day.
  • Reheat the dish fully before eating.
  • An exception is the asparagus soup, which stays fresh for up to two days.

Tip: If you know that you won’t finish your asparagus dish within a day, simply freeze the meal in portions.

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