My daughter Natalie loves roasted veggies and lately she’s been on an asparagus kick. We’ve hdd grilled, sauteed, and roasted asparagus in the past couple of weeks, so when she asked for it again, I decided to try something different: Bacon Wrapped Asparagus.
Natalie’s also a bacon lover, so she was onboard too! Plus, if you buy Whole30 compliant bacon, you can make this during a round of Whole30 and eat it for lunch or dinner!
This easy recipe has only two ingredients: Bacon and Asparagus. That’s it.
If you like your bacon a little under cooked, you can wrap the bacon around the asparagus stalks as you peel it out of the package, overlapping it a little as you wrap.
If you’re like us though, and you like your bacon more crunchy, you need a different approach.
While cooking the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus longer will get the bacon crunchy, the extra cook time makes the asparagus soggy. Instead, you need to cut the raw bacon strips in half lengthwise so they are thinner. Then, wrap the thin bacon strips around the asparagus, being careful to not overlap any of the bacon and leaving space between the bacon wrappings to let air in. Doing it this way makes sure you get crunchier bacon without overcooking the asparagus.
Another way to ensure you get crunchy bacon and perfectly cooked asparagus is to buy big fat stalks of asparagus, not the little skinny ones.
We made six Bacon Wrapped Asparagus stalks for each of us and while I wrapped the bacon around the asparagus, Natalie prepped the small yellow potatoes: quartering them and tossing the potatoes in olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
These delicious little babies cook at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes with one flip about halfway through. They then cook under the broiler for another two minutes or so — but you must watch them carefully! If you’ve ever tried to cook bacon in the oven (the best way to cook bacon), you know that bacon goes from “almost done” to “charred” in the blink of an eye.
A Turkey Bacon Alternative
Since having cancer, my husband Brian doesn’t eat any red meat or pork and he doesn’t even cheat a little. He won’t even eat chicken sausage if it’s in a pork casing. So I bought both regular bacon and turkey bacon so he could enjoy this delicious meal with us. I also use separate knives, cutting boards, and baking sheets to avoid cross-contamination.
For what it’s worth, cutting the turkey bacon strips in half lengthwise was WAY EASIER than cutting the regular bacon because I didn’t have to worry about cutting through the thick white fatty part. It was also much easier to wrap around the asparagus stalks.
Both the pork bacon and turkey Bacon Wrapped Asparagus stalks cooked at the same temperature for the same amount of time, so it was easy to prep both. I stole a bite of Brian’s and I think I may be a convert for this recipe!
The turkey bacon option was really really good!
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Even those family members who don't love asparagus will ask for second when it's wrapped with bacon!
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Ingredients
- Bacon
- Asparagus
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a wire backing rack on a baking sheet.
- Trip the bottoms of the asparagus stalks. Slice the bacon strips in half lengthwise.
- Wrap the bacon strips around the asparagus stalks, being careful not to overlap the bacon.
- Cook for 18-20 minutes, flipping the asparagus halfway through.
- Cook asparagus under the broiler for another 2 minutes, watching it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn.
Notes:
Make this Whole30 compliant by buying compliant bacon!
How much bacon wrapped asparagus you make is up to you! Fair warning though, load that baking sheet up! These little babies are delicious and you'll wish you had more.
One piece of turkey bacon cut in half lengthwise will wrap two asparagus stalks. Pork bacon on the other hand is far more fatty and I found that when cutting the bacon strips, some of them fell apart — so my pork bacon to asparagus stalk ratio was about 1:1.
