Asparagus Pasta
on Jul 17, 2023, Updated May 18, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.
I’ve been slacking on the recipe blog posts. Summer is always the hardest for me to keep up with. We’ve been on the road in the new RV and enjoying it to the fullest. We spent a week in Oregon, another week and a half in Idaho, and now we’re currently on our way to one of our favorite camp spots in Huntington Beach, CA. I figure I’ll get one up for you right now. I shared this asparagus pasta in my stories yesterday and had so many requests for the recipe I figure it’s a good one to retire from Ninja Insider and share with everyone.
In true blogger fashion here’s some pictures of a few of our stops this summer that are completely unrelated to this new recipe. I can’t help but share a few!
This asparagus pasta isn’t exactly what I’d call, “Macro friendly.” Sometimes you just want keep old time favorites as they are, without trying to add a bunch of protein or shed all the fat. This is a great side dish well worth fitting into your macros for the day.
What can I pair with this asparagus pasta to make a macro balanced meal?
- Grilled Perfectly Chicken
- Hot Honey Chicken
- Korean BBQ Chicken
- Pineapple Chicken
- Honey Dijon Garlic Chicken
- BBQ Greek Chicken
- Honey Glazed Chicken Skewers
Can I make this Gluten Free?
Of course! An easy way to do so is to just use your favorite gluten free pasta. I like Banza pasta but I’m sure if you’re gluten free you already have a favorite.
Can I make this Dairy Free?
You can skip the parmesan (or swap in some nutritional yeast) and just swap the butter for more olive oil or ghee.
I hope you love this asparagus pasta as much as I have over the years. My mom got this recipe from a friend and used to make it for us all the time. You could always count on a bowl of leftover asparagus pasta to be in the fridge at any given time.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do. Tag me on Instagram if you make it! I absolutely love seeing you guys making my recipes and sharing, it means a lot.
Get the Stay Fit Mom Cookbooks!
Macros included for all recipes and pre loaded in the apps for easy macro tracking!
Digital and hardcopies available!
Asparagus Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 ounces ziti or penne pasta
- 2 pounds asparagus spears
- 1/3 cup of olive oil, 75g
- 4 tablespoons butter, 56g
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes
- 2-5 dashes of Tabasco sauce, start 2 with if you’ve never made this before(1 dash is about 1/8 teaspoon)
- salt and pepper
- 2/3 cup parmigiano reggiano (or parmesan cheese), 56g
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according the package directions using salted water. Strain once cooked and set aside.
- Rinse the asparagus and remove crunchy ends. Slice remaining asparagus into 2″ pieces.
- In a large pan over medium hight heat, heat up the olive oil and butter. Once the butter is melted add the garlic. Let cook about 30 seconds.
- Add the asparagus, red pepper flakes, Tobasco sauce (start with 3 dashes if unsure of spice level), and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Let cook about 5 minutes until the asparagus begins to soften. Be careful not to overcook, you don’t want mushy asparagus.
- Stir in the cooked pasta and parmesan cheese. Serve warm with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m giving this 3 stars as written because I had to tweak some things to really like it. My tweaks: only used a little over 1 pd of asparagus. Used only 1 1/2 t. of red pepper flakes & it was a good mild/medium spice level. Added extra minced garlic, garlic powder, garlic salt & salt for the flavors to come out. Next time I will probably use a Kickin’ Chicken spice to add some other flavor that includes the red pepper spice. I also added approx. 2 cups of pulled & chopped up rotisserie chicken & threw it in while cooking the asparagus. We liked the addition of the chicken a lot and made it more of a main dish with some protein. BTW, the more parmesan, the better!
Hi Amber, Thanks for trying the recipe and for sharing your modifications! It sounds like you made several adjustments to better fit your family’s tastes, especially reducing the asparagus, lowering the red pepper flakes, adding additional seasonings, and turning it into a main dish with rotisserie chicken.
This recipe was originally intended to be a simple vegetable-forward pasta side dish, which is why it includes a larger amount of asparagus and relies on the parmesan, garlic, and red pepper flakes for flavor. Adding chicken is a great way to turn it into a more substantial meal, and I agree that extra parmesan is never a bad thing!
I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback and share what worked for you. It’s always helpful for other readers to see different ways a recipe can be customized.
What is the serving size? This is very good!
Hi Jill, the serving size is 200g.