Whether you’re throwing a party and want an appetizer that is impressive or you’re having a simple dinner at home with the family, bacon wrapped asparagus will never disappoint. And if you are having trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables, this will do the trick! Who can resist salty, delicious bacon on anything? Asparagus on its own is delicious, but some find it to be an acquired taste. Well, this asparagus cooking technique is sure to convert them immediately into bacon wrapped asparagus lovers.
Prepare Your Tools
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put a cookie sheet with a wire cooling rack on it on the counter next to where you will be assembling your bacon wrapped asparagus. The wire rack elevates the wrapped asparagus allowing air to get to all side of the bacon so that it cooks and crisps easily.
Prepare Your Ingredients
Wash your asparagus well in cold water, focusing on the tips where dirt can get trapped in all the little crevices. Pat the asparagus dry on a clean towel. Next, you need to trim the ends by breaking them off at their natural breaking point. This is easily done by holding the asparagus by each end and bending it until it breaks. The asparagus will snap an inch or two from the bottom. Discard the bottoms.
If you bought bacon that is pre-sliced, then you are good to go. Simply remove it from the packaging and have it laid out on your preparation surface. However, if you bought a chunk of bacon, you will want to slice it into thin slices, about 1/8 of an inch thick. You could also ask your butcher to do this for you ahead of time.
Assemble Your Ingredients
Take one spear of asparagus and one strip of bacon. Wrap the bacon around the asparagus from the end almost all the way to the tip, but leave the pretty little head sticking out at the top. Place it on the wire cooling rack and repeat until all of the asparagus are wrapped with bacon. When you are done, sprinkle all of the bacon wrapped asparagus with salt and pepper. Or, for a little sweet kick, brush all the wrapped spears with a little maple syrup. This will caramelize the bacon so that they are crispy, sweet and salty.
Bake the asparagus in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Remove and serve immediately.
Asparagus is best had fresh from the store or farmer’s market, but if you have to store it, place the bundle in a container tall enough for it to stand and put in an inch or two of water. A large cup or jar would work just fine. Cover the asparagus with an overturned plastic bag and leave in the fridge until you are ready to use, but no more than 4 days. See pictures of how to store asparagus here.
It is best to have thick asparagus if you are wrapping a single spear in a slice of bacon, but if you happen to buy thin, tender asparagus instead, simply wrap multiple spears in one slice. This makes an especially pretty bundle.
Check out this video on turkey bacon wrapped asparagus for a similar oven baking technique.
