• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
DadCooksDinner
  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Grilling

    Grilled Asparagus

    Published: May 19, 2009 · Modified: Mar 22, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Whenever asparagus is in season, I grab it, and toss it on the grill with whatever else I'm cooking. This helps me feel like my grilling isn't just all protein, all the time.
    *When I first started cooking for us, Diane would always complain because I didn't have any vegetables in my repertoire. "Can you cook us something green? Anything? All I want is a vegetable that isn't all starch." Now I've flipped the other way; I always try to serve two vegetable sides and a starch with every meal.

    This is a great weeknight side dish, if you're grilling dinner. I can usually squeeze it in on the side of my grill.
    *I'm not just saying that because my grill is huge. I used to do this all the time when I had a (relatively) smaller Weber Genesis.

    Recipe: Grilled Asparagus


    Cook time: 10 minutes

    Equipment:

    • Grill (I used a Weber Summit 650. Here it is.)
    • (optional) Vegetable grate - see notes section

    Ingredients:

    • 1 lb Asparagus, tough ends trimmed

    Balsamic Vinaigrette
    (See Vinaigrette Basic Technique for my vinaigrette basic technique)

    • 6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

    Directions:
    1. Preheat the grill: Set your grill up for direct cooking at medium heat. For my Weber Summit, this means turning all the burners to high and preheating (lid closed) for 10-15 minutes, then turning them down to medium. If you have a vegetable grate, put it on the grill to preheat.

    2. Prepare the asparagus: Trim the tough ends off the asparagus, and put in a baking dish. Make the balsamic vinaigrette by whisking the ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour it over the asparagus. Let the asparagus marinate in the vinaigrette until the grill is ready.

    3. Clean the grill: After preheating, clean your grill grate by brushing it with your grill brush, and wiping it with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil. (I usually use canola oil.)

    4. Cook the asparagus: Turn the heat down to medium, and put the asparagus on the grill, in one layer, perpendicular to the grill grate. Set the baking dish with the vinaigrette aside. Turn the asparagus every couple of minutes, until browned and tender, 5-10 minutes.
    *The cooking time depends on the thickness of your asparagus. My first test is sight - is the asparagus should be browned and starting to wilt. Then I test by picking a thicker spear and eating it; I want it to be tender, with just a little bite still to it.

    5. Serve: Put the asparagus back in the baking dish with the vinaigrette, and toss to coat. Serve.

    Variations:
    *Vinaigrette mania: Use any vinaigrette instead of the balsamic - the lemon dressing goes especially well with asparagus.

    Notes:
    *I try to get thin to medium-thick asparagus; it takes longer than I'd like to cook thick asparagus.  That being said, in some of the pictures above you can see some locally grown asparagus I bought because it was wonderfully fresh, but the sizes were all over the board.
    *It was worth it.  Fresh asparagus is a treat when all you usually get is from the local grocery store.

    *The traditional method for removing the tough part of the asparagus is to snap each one off individually. I use a shortcut. I leave the rubber band on the bunch of asparagus, pull one out, snap off the tough end, then put it back in the bunch. Then, using the snapped one as a guide, I cut the tough bottoms off the whole bunch.

    *The trick to cooking asparagus on a grill without losing it all is keeping it perpendicular to the grate. Don't worry about perfection; I usually lose a spear or two while doing this. If you are worried about it, see my comments on vegetable grates below.

    *I use a "rolling turn" approach" to the turning - my grill tends to be hotter in the front than in the back. Using my tongs, I grab a handful (tongful?) of the asparagus from the front, move it to the back, and then roll the rest of the asparagus towards the front of the grill. If you do this every couple of minutes, you will have rotated your asparagus across the entire grill by the end of your cooking time.

    *I'm not a big fan of vegetable grates; they tend to be flimsy, stamped stainless steel, and everything sticks to them.  This one is the exception.  It's a cast iron grate made by Lodge, the company famous for their cast iron cookware.  It weighs a ton, soaks up the heat, and dishes it back out to whatever you're cooking.  Just make sure to season it with some oil after every cooking session, so the cast iron doesn't rust.

    What do you think?  Questions?  Better ideas?  Leave them in the comments, below.

    Inspired by:
    Catherine St. John's grilling classes at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, Ohio
    Lodge Logic Pre-Seasoned Barbecue Grill/Grate

    More Grilling

    • Grilled Frozen Ribeyes | DadCooksDinner.com
      Grilled Frozen Ribeye Steak
    • Beef short ribs on the grill, with some flareups in the background
      Grilled Short Ribs with Smoked Spanish Paprika Rub
    • La Caja China Pig Roast | DadCooksDinner.com
      Matt’s La Caja China Pig Roast
    • Grilled Beef Sirloin Kabobs | DadCooksDinner.com
      Grilled Beef Sirloin Kabobs

    Sharing is caring!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      June 01, 2011 at 1:36 am

      @Barbara:

      Thanks! Minced garlic is always a good add-in.

      Reply
    2. Barbara | Creative Culinary says

      May 31, 2011 at 10:43 pm

      My all time favorite method too...but I do add some minced garlic to the vinaigrette.Want some now.

      Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner! I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Three bowls of cooked Pinto Beans on a wood table
      Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
      Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice

    Recent

    • A plate of brisket slices with a pickle, onion, and bbq sauce
      Instant Pot Beef Brisket
    • Two jars of chicken broth on a wood table in front of an Instant Pot
      Instant Pot Chicken Broth
    • A bowl of Instant Pot Pastalaya with hot sauces and spices
      Instant Pot Pastalaya (One-Pot Cajun Pasta Jambalaya)
    • A bowl of beef and barley soup
      Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup (Pressure Cooker)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2022 Dad Cooks Dinner

    17 shares