Spicy sauteed asparagus is an easy side dish favorite! With five simple ingredients and fifteen minutes time, you can whip up a healthy side dish right on the stovetop.
Unless I buy it with a specific recipe in mind, a bunch of asparagus in my house usually gets turned into this spicy sauteed asparagus. It’s our favorite way to cook it.
For one, as long as we have asparagus, we definitely have the rest of the ingredients. Pantry/fridge staples.
We also love spicy food (within reason), so a drizzle of sriracha is right up our alley.
And then the method: it’s all done on the stovetop. The asparagus becomes tender and nice and roasty right in the pan in a short amount of time.
Who doesn’t love a quick, easy, and healthy side dish?
Ingredients
Simple, simple, simple. All you need is a bunch of asparagus, olive oil (or your preferred cooking oil), salt, pepper, and sriracha.
When it comes to buying asparagus, I recommend looking for a bunch that has spears of similar size and width. That way they all saute to doneness in the same amount of time.
I find the asparagus selection at my usual grocery store to be a mixed bag. Sometimes they’re super tiny and other times they’re all hefty. The batch you see here is definitely on the hefty side, but you can just reduce the cook time if your asparagus is thinner.
The quantity of sriracha sauce you see drizzled in the photo below certainly adds a nice zip! But do add as much or as little as you like to align with your tastes. I use sriracha because the nozzle tip makes it really easy to squirt on there, but there’s no reason why something like chili garlic sauce or any other spicy type of sauce you like wouldn’t work.
Other than that? Olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Instructions
You’ll want to use a large skillet here so the sauteed asparagus can be arranged in a single layer. Add the one teaspoon of the oil and let it get nice and hot before adding the asparagus.
Once the asparagus gets in the pan, I like to drizzle another teaspoon of two of oil over the top side and season it with salt and pepper.
After 3-5 minutes, take a peek at the under side of the asparagus to see if it’s cooked to your liking. As you can see I like for them to get pretty roasted, but you don’t have it keep them going that long.
Once they’re browned, use tongs or a spatula to flip each spear over. Now it’s time to drizzle the sriracha. After drizzling, brush the sriracha up and down each spear to disperse it. That way you don’t have pockets of extreme heat.
You’re all set to serve once the flip side is browned, which will only take a few minutes, and then we’re good as gold (sang à la Scheana Marie).
Spicy sauteed asparagus goes well with so many main dishes, from simple grilled chicken to plenty of recipes on the Asian-flavor side of things, like oven fried tofu or sheet pan tofu with peanut sauce.
Recipe notes
- The spice level here is totally dependent on how much sriracha you add. The drizzle you see above added a fairly strong zip, I recommend starting small if you’re not sure.
- A splatter screen (affiliate link) really comes in handy when sauteeing in a higher heat! It lets the steam out while protecting your hands and arms from those terrible tiny hot oil specks.
Spicy Sauteed Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 2 ½ tsp olive oil divided
- 1 tsp sriracha more or less to taste
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Rinse asparagus. Trim off about 1"-ish from the bottom of each spear, where the green color begins to transition to white, and discard the end. The white-ish end is the tough part we don't want to eat.
- Place a large skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Once heated thoroughly, place the asparagus in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.
- Drizzle remaining 1 ½ teaspoons of oil over top of the asparagus and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the asparagus cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the bottom side is sauteed to your liking.
- Carefully flip each asparagus spear over and arrange them again in a single layer to cook for 2-3 minutes to cook the opposite side. While the second side is cooking, drizzle sriracha over the asparagus (you'll be drizzling on the already-cooked side), then brush the sriracha from the top to bottom of each spear to disperse it. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer
Jan says
Hi Alyssa, I need to find a way to prepare boneless country style spare ribs. I’ve tried everything…either they come out tough and chewy or limp and tasteless. I tried cooking them in my crockpot and it was like chewing on dust. help!!
Alyssa says
Hi Jan, sorry for the delay in my reply! I don’t have much experience with boneless country style spare ribs, so I’m not quite sure what could be causing the less-than-awesome outcomes. Weird that they weren’t nice and juicy in the crockpot! I found this post from Simply Recipes that details a few different cooking methods for them (oven and grill). Looks like slow and low is the way to go. Hopefully her tips will help you! http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/slow_and_low_country_ribs/
Laura says
Would this work for roasting the asparagus in the oven?
Alyssa says
Hi Laura, yes that would work. I’d arrange the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet, brush on the olive oil evenly, and add the sriracha/salt/pepper. Roast time will depend on how thick or thin your asparagus is, but I’m thinking somewhere between 10-15 minutes? I’m not sure it’ll have as many blackened/crisp bits as it does preparing it on the stovetop, but all the flavor will still be there!
Danielle says
Ok I don’t hardly eat asparagus because I can never think of a good way to cook it, but now I know! I love that you used sriracha!
Alyssa says
We’ve been adding sriracha to more and more foods lately – we can’t get enough! This recipe is so good when you throw the asparagus on the grill, but now that it’s winter (…and we don’t have a grill) I’m so glad to have the stovetop as an option!
Nostramomous says
Omg Alyssa! You can make asparagus look gorgeous and delicious! Yum!
Alyssa says
Why thank you! 🙂
Ashley says
We love us some asparagus! And I really like that this has a kick! And such great tips for cooking it!
Alyssa says
I’ll take asparagus any old way, but I’m kind of obsessing over spicy asparagus! Grill or no grill. 🙂 Thanks girl!
Annie says
Okay we are having some Asian meatballs tonight and I didn’t know what to fix with it…now I do!! I love how easy this is, I have all these ingredients all the time!
Alyssa says
That sounds like such a great pairing Annie! I need to make those Asian meatballs with this asparagus next time. So good!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Well I need to get my spice on now!!! Delish!
Alyssa says
🙂 Thanks Rebecca!