This delicious air fryer bacon wrapped asparagus is a fabulous quick side dish recipe for any meal. If you’re looking for a way to make your veggies extra flavorful, then you’ll love this simple recipe!
Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Recipe
This air fryer bacon-wrapped asparagus recipe is quite possibly one of my favorite quick and easy side dishes! This simple recipe is quite possibly the easiest way to prepare asparagus. It’s the ultimate veggie side dish for any bacon lover.
I keep some frozen asparagus in my freezer all the time. It’s great to have on hand when I need a tasty side dish with a meal. This recipe makes the most tender asparagus that has loads of flavor, thanks to the bacon.
It’s quickly become a family favorite and even my picky eaters will chow down on this delicious veggie. Salty bacon really helps season the asparagus perfectly and makes the most flavorful low carb side dish ever!
Pair this great side dish with meals like air fryer turkey meatballs, Instant Pot pork chops, or grilled chicken drumsticks. It’s super versatile and is sure to be a hit with any meal! It’d actually even go great alongside delicious appetizers at a party too. So much to love about this quick recipe!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
There are so many reasons to love this lovely little recipe. It’s so tasty and truly so easy to make:
- The air fryer is a much healthier option of preparing food while still making it crispy and crunchy. While bacon isn’t necessarily “healthy”, having a small amount with a good portion of healthy veggies makes it a better option.
- Cleanup is really easy when you make crispy bacon wrapped asparagus in the air fryer. I love recipes that reduce my clean-up time in the kitchen after dinner! I can just kick back and enjoy my evening instead of washing loads of dishes.
- You can serve this side dish with pretty much anything! No matter what main dish you’re cooking, this is the perfect side dish.
Ingredients
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it doesn’t require a ton of ingredients. Here’s a list of everything you’ll need to make this dish:
- medium thickness asparagus
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- kosher salt
- garlic powder
- black pepper
- regular-cut bacon strips
Substitutions and Variations
For a lower fat version of this recipe, feel free to use turkey bacon. You can also use sugar free bacon if you’d like to keep this recipe Whole30 approved.
Avocado oil is a great substitute for olive oil!
Feel free to use other seasonings like onion powder, cayenne pepper, seasoned salt, or other favorites that you like to put on vegetables.
How to Make Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Follow these step-by-step instructions and in no time, you’ll have this air fryer asparagus recipe ready to serve:
Preheat your air fryer to 400°F (204°C) for at least 5 minutes. If you do not have a preheat function on your air fryer, then just turn it on for a few minutes.
Trim the woody ends of the asparagus spears and then place the fresh asparagus spears into a large bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper and then toss to combine.
Grab one piece of bacon and wrap 4-5 pieces of asparagus into a little bundle. If needed, secure the bacon with a toothpick. Repeat this process until all asparagus is wrapped up in bacon slices.
Grease your air fryer basket with non-stick cooking spray and place the bundles into the basket. Be careful not to overcrowd them!
Cook at 375°F (190°C) for 10-12 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and the fresh asparagus stalks are tender.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
How to Store Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
While this dish is best fresh, you can store leftovers. Allow the leftover asparagus to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container or plastic bag. Store in the fridge for about 2 days. To freeze leftovers, place them on a baking sheet and into the freezer for a few hours. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container. Store for up to 3 months. Thaw before reheating.
For best results, reheat in the oven or air fryer until the bacon crisps back up.
What to Serve with Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
While this great side dish goes with so many different meals, there are a few things in particular that I love to pair it with! Serve this up with some Instant Pot swedish meatballs, slow cooker chicken thighs, and air fryer pork chops. It’s a great side for ground beef and orzo too.
It’d be tasty with a grilled pork tenderloin too! It’d be great with slow cooker Italian lamb shoulder and Italian chicken breasts too.
Tips for Success
Check out these few tips and tricks to make your bacon asparagus absolutely perfect:
- If you need to cook the asparagus in batches, it can be kept warm in a 225F oven for up to 30 minutes.
- Be sure to wrap the asparagus bundles tightly with the bacon. This will help keep every stalk of asparagus in the bacon and cook well.
- Don’t overload the air fryer basket! Air fryers work by circulating hot air around the food, so if you overload the basket there won’t be enough space for the air to move around.
- I recommend a medium to thick asparagus for this recipe. Bacon takes a while to cook and we don’t want the asparagus to burn, so thicker stalks will have the best results.
FAQ
It is perfectly fine to cook bacon in the air fryer, especially when it is wrapped around veggies like asparagus. You’ll love how crispy the bacon turns out and how flavorful the veggies are.
I recommend avoiding thick cut bacon so that it cooks all the way through and becomes crispy. Just some regular cut bacon will do the trick! You can use hickory smoked bacon, mesquite, maple bacon or so much more. Whichever kind of bacon is your favorite, it’ll all work great.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Equipment
- Toothpicks
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium thickness asparagus about 35-40 pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 12 ounces regular-cut bacon about 8 pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer at 400°F (20°C) for 5 minutes.
- Trim the woody ends of the asparagus and place the spears in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Toss to combine.
- Use one piece of bacon to wrap 4-5 pieces of asparagus into a bundle. Secure the bacon with a toothpick, if needed. Repeat until all of the asparagus and bacon have been used.
- Carefully grease your air fryer basket with olive oil spray and place as many bundles as will fit — you don’t want to overcrowd the basket!
- Cook at 375°F (190°C) for 10-12 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp and the asparagus are tender. Enjoy.
- If you need to cook the asparagus in batches, it can be kept warm in a 225°F (110°C) oven for up to 30 minutes.
Notes
- I recommend a medium to thick asparagus for this recipe. Bacon takes a while to cook and we don’t want the asparagus to burn.
- Make sure to choose a regular-cut bacon as thick-cut bacon won’t cook fast enough and the asparagus is likely to burn before the bacon is crisp.
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