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This delicious and flavorful garlic butter Asparagus Pasta is made with orzo and fresh asparagus, tossed in a garlic butter sauce and parmesan cheese. It’s an easy 20-minute, cheesy side dish!
This cheesy and buttery Asparagus Pasta recipe is downright heavenly. I mean, smother anything in garlic butter sauce, and it’ll automatically taste great, but this pasta is next-level delicious. Just look at that layer of golden orzo and beautiful, bright green asparagus covered in buttery amazingness… is your stomach rumbling yet?
When I need a quick side dish that I know everybody will eat, I look to recipes like my asparagus with lemon butter sauce, or I whip up this simple mix of cheesy asparagus and tender pasta. It goes with just about any meal you can think of – chicken, steak, fish, you name it. You can even serve it by itself as a light dinner if you want!
However you want to enjoy it is just fine, as long as you give it a try. You will not regret digging into this parmesan pasta with asparagus, which you can make in just 20 minutes by the way! Prepare to be blown away by the cheesy garlic butter goodness!
What Makes This Asparagus Pasta So Good?
There are a lot of orzo pasta recipes out there, so why make this one? Good question! Here’s why I’m so in love with this asparagus pasta recipe:
- Cheesy and Buttery. I just can’t stop talking about how fantastic this garlicky, cheesy pasta tastes. I don’t know about you, but if I could enjoy a parmesan garlic butter sauce every day, I probably would!
- Quick. As mentioned above, you can make asparagus pasta in 20 minutes! Plus, most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry or in the fridge.
- Healthy. Look at all that fresh asparagus! This pasta side dish is a great way to encourage your kids to gobble down veggies.
Recipe Ingredients
Let’s talk about what you need to round up to make this asparagus pasta recipe. Keep in mind that you can find the exact quantities for each ingredient in the recipe card below.
- Pasta – I like to use orzo in this recipe, but you could also use another small pasta like penne.
- Asparagus – Just use the tips for this dish (cut the asparagus about 2 to 3 inches from the top).
- Butter – Salted and unsalted both work – if you use salted, just reduce the amount of salt you add in later.
- Garlic – I like to mince garlic cloves because it provides the strongest flavor, but you can use store-bought minced garlic or even garlic powder in a pinch.
- Parmesan Cheese – Grated parmesan cheese tastes best here, but you can use pre-shredded parmesan if you’re in a hurry.
- Milk – I prefer to use skim milk, but 1 or 2% milk can be substituted.
- Seasoning – Keep it simple with salt, pepper, and some fresh parsley!
How To Make Asparagus Pasta
This pasta recipe is one of those side dishes that forces me to go back and steal just one more bite (make that TEN) while I’m packing it up to put away in the fridge. But before that, here’s how it all comes together:
- Prepare the pasta. Cook the orzo according to the package directions, adding the asparagus tips in for the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Then, remove everything from the heat and drain.
- Add butter to a skillet. Next, stir in the garlic and cook it for 5 minutes. Continue to stir so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
- Combine the ingredients. Then, stir in the prepared orzo and asparagus stalks, along with the cheese, milk, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Enjoy. Cook everything for 1 more minute, garnish with parmesan cheese, and finally, serve!
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Cut the asparagus. If you snap the asparagus, you’ll lose more of the stalk than just the tough part that you’re trying to get rid of. Slicing the stalks allows you to be more precise when you cut them 2-3 inches from the top.
- Use thin asparagus. The thinner the stalks are, the easier they are to eat with pasta. That being said, you can absolutely use thick asparagus if you prefer.
- Add lemon juice. If you want some tangy, zesty flavor thrown in with this pasta, add some fresh lemon juice!
Serving Suggestions
This asparagus pasta recipe can be served with practically any main course! Some of my favorite pairings are these easy baked chicken breasts or juicy steaks like my air fryer steak bites and mushrooms! Something like this air fryer salmon would also pair so well with cheesy asparagus pasta.
If you want to make this pasta side dish a light meal, you could mix in some easy oven roasted vegetables and salmon bites.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Should you have any leftover pasta, go ahead and save some for later – it makes a great lunch for school or work! Here’s how to do that:
- To Store. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- To Reheat. The best way to reheat this pasta is in a skillet with a touch of oil over medium-low heat, because this will help the asparagus crisp up a little. If you’re not worried so much about the texture of the asparagus, though, you can just use the microwave.
More Easy Asparagus Recipes
Ready to try some more asparagus side dishes? These are some of my favorites!
- Grilled Asparagus
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Grilled Asparagus
- Creamy Chicken Asparagus Pasta
- Creamy Asparagus Pasta Recipe
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Asparagus Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry orzo
- 1 pound fresh asparagus, tips only (cut the asparagus about 2 to 3-inches from the top)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- shredded parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Cook the orzo. Prepare the orzo according to the directions on the package.
- Cook the asparagus. Add the asparagus tips to the orzo during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat and drain.
- In the meantime, prepare the garlic butter sauce. Add butter to a skillet and melt over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook for 4 or until lightly browned, stirring very frequently. Do not burn the garlic.
- Combine. Add the cooked orzo and asparagus to the skillet; stir in the cheese, milk, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve.
Video
Notes
- To Store. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- To Reheat. The best way to reheat this pasta is in a skillet with a touch of oil over medium-low heat, because this will help the asparagus crisp up a little. If you’re not worried so much about the texture of the asparagus, though, you can just use the microwave.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
What a delightful find! I’ve had a box of orzo mocking me from the pantry for months, and this was a fantastic way to use it up. This instantly moved into the dinner rotation, so simple but so tasty!
Haha, love that the orzo finally got its moment to shine! 😄 So glad you enjoyed it and that it made it into the dinner rotation—that’s the best compliment. Thank YOU! 😊