How To Sous Vide Asparagus [THICK or THIN]

Sous vide asparagus turns out tender, yet crisp when cooked this way. The time it takes is just 30 minutes. Then they’re ready to eat. Enjoy asparagus cooked sous vide style right out of the bag, or add some lemon, pepper or cheese before serving. This is an ideal sous vide side dish for brunch or a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Let’s cook!

What is sous vide asparagus like?

When making sous vide recipes, most people want to know if the food like these asparagus turn out better sous vide vs traditional ways of cooking.

Personally, I think asparagus cooked this way is always a win. Traditionally cooked asparagus can be tricky because they are easy to overcook. Once they become stringy and chewy, the asparagus is ruined in my humble [asparagus-connoisseur] opinion. 

Asparagus cooked sous vide style is soft and tender.

 

Using a sous vide machine – like the  Joule, SousPreme multipot, Anova, or Instant Pot Slim or any other tool for “precision cooking” – allows you to keep all the flavor, without it getting mushy.

You still get a little bit of a snappy crunch – exactly how you’d expect perfectly made asparagus to turn out. 

Ingredients for my basic sous vide asparagus recipe

What you need to cook sous vide asparagus is simple: a bunch of fresh asparagus, some garlic, butter, and salt.

The butter is pretty important, as this sous vide asparagus recipe poaches the veg in butter.

To keep this a sous vide vegetarian recipe, top with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and fresh cracked pepper.

For a non vegan sous vide dish, crumble some overnight sous vide bacon or prepare sous vide soft boiled eggs to serve on top.

How to sous vide asparagus

Step 1. Preheat sous vide machine to 180ºF.

Vacuum seal asparagus with garlic, butter, and salt in a flat layer.

Step 2. Sous vide asparagus at 180ºF for 6 minutes (½” thick stalks), or 9 minutes (1” thick stalks). See notes below for more details on the time and temperature.

FYI – There are recipes for sous vide asparagus at 130 – 140 degrees F cook temp, but those are different recipes for another day. Cooking at those temperatures requires more explanation and different cook times.

CAPTION – I like to use tongs for removing asparagus from the hot sous vide water.

Step 3. When done, remove asparagus from the sous vide bath water.

They are ready to serve right out of the bag. Usually I discard the excess liquid from the vacuum seal bag. Depending on what you seasoned asparagus with, you might want to keep it to add to pasta sauces or reduce with extra butter to make a sauce for the asparagus.

Step 4. Plate asparagus and serve with toppings as desired. I like a squeeze of lemon, sprinkle of Parmesan, a little garlic finishing salt, and a crack of fresh ground pepper.

Make it a meal with pasta and chicken piccata pasta, crispy Italian chicken breast, or with this recipe for an easy chicken breast you can make in under 20 minutes.

Want to make it a sous vide menu for a crowd? Serve up sous vide chicken tenders, sous vide fried chicken, or sous vide beef brisket sandwiches. More ideas for making a meal using sous vide asparagus below…

Notes on the sous vide asparagus time and temperature

Asparagus tends to come in two sizes. The time has to be adjusted to accommodate the size of the vegetables. Here’s how I choose the time.

Sous viding thin asparagus

Thin stalks – about the diameter of a pencil – cook best for me at 180ºF for 6 minutes.

Sous viding thick asparagus

And I cook thick asparagus stalks – about the diameter of a finger 180ºF for 9 minutes.

Sous viding white and yellow asparagus

And yes, sous vide everything the same (time and temp) when it comes to green vs yellow or white asparagus.

What is the right texture for sous vide asparagus?

Unlike roasted asparagus, sous vide asparagus will maintain more of its original crunch, as long as it’s not overcooked.

What if my asparagus turns brown or grey while cooking?

Sometimes the type of salt can cause discoloration while cooking. As long as the asparagus was good before cooking, it will be fine after, but use sea salt in the future.

What to serve with sous vide asparagus

Sous vide asparagus pairs well with almost any protein, but especially so with seafood: salmon, white fish, or garlic sous vide shrimp kebabs are a few of our favorites. They also go well with sautéed mushrooms and baked potatoes.

And if you just want to sous vide everything, make a batch of sous vide little potatoes like the ones featured in The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

If you wanted to go a bit fancier, try making gourmet sous vide prosciutto wrapped asparagus. It’s a favorite in my house, along with these sous vide Brussels sprouts.

How to refrigerate sous vide asparagus

This is a great recipe to make in a large batch. Store cooked asparagus in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. Don’t eat if it has lost its characteristic bright green color.

Asparagus wine pairings

Yup, there’s a perfect wine pairing for asparagus.

Pinot Grigio is the perfect match for asparagus; its crisp flavor is a good match for sous vide asparagus’s soft texture and bold flavor.

Plating tips for asparagus

Try to avoid cutting sous vide asparagus and take advantage of the asparagus’s length to set it parallel to your protein. This will give interest and movement to your plate.

There’s a recipe for sous vide asparagus served with almonds in my new book – The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook. The book has 100+ recipes with an entire chapter on sous vide vegetables.

Are you new to sous vide veggie recipes?

I’m serious: they’re underrated.

Everyone always eats up sous vide corn and other sous vide vegetable recipes when we sous vide for a crowd.

It’s fun to make asparagus with the sous vide machine when we’re having someone special over– nothing says fancy dinner like full-length asparagus artistically arranged on a plate, and nobody needs to know you’ve got easy ways of cooking that eliminate any slaving in the kitchen.

Make a whole big batch of asparagus. I’m serious. My husband eats sous vide asparagus like it’s going out of style. We often make it with sous vide frozen steak.

Final tips for cooking asparagus sous vide style

• Wine pairing. Try a crisp Pinot Grigio.
• Plating tip. Avoid cutting asparagus and keep them long for beautiful plating.
• Add a sprinkle of parmesan and fresh cracked pepper to make this recipe extra special, or add chopped sous vide bacon for extra rich flavor.
• Storing tip. Store cooked asparagus in an air-tight container for 5 days.

Are you a foodie, too?

Next up, you have to try sous vide whole roasted chicken. It turns out super juicy on the inside (after spatchcocking it) with crispy skin because it’s finished in the broiler for 20 minutes. It’s simple enough for a weeknight (meal prep it to cook during the day), yet I always like it for holidays because it’s both easy and impressive served on a plater.

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