Asparagus Pasta
Updated Feb 18, 2025
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This delicious and flavorful garlic parmesan orzo with asparagus is an easy, cheesy 20-minute pasta recipe! Tossed in savory garlic butter with freshly grated cheese, the tender orzo pasta soaks up the flavors while crisp asparagus spears add color and texture.
Easy Asparagus Pasta With Orzo
This cheesy and buttery asparagus orzo recipe is downright heavenly. I mean, smother any pasta in garlic butter sauce, and it’ll automatically taste great. But this asparagus 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 orzo 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 garlic parmesan orzo with asparagus. Make it in 20 minutes!
What Makes This Asparagus Orzo 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 orzo 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 my garlic butter sauce every day, I probably would.
- Quick. As mentioned above, you can cook orzo with asparagus in 20 minutes. Plus, most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry or in the fridge.
- Easy greens. 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 make orzo with asparagus. 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 or longer shapes, as you’d use for garlic butter noodles.
- 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!
Recipe Tips and 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 orzo with asparagus can be served with practically any main course or with a side salad for an easy dinner. Some of my favorite pairings include:
- Protein: These easy baked chicken breasts or juicy steaks like my air fryer steak bites and mushrooms.
- Seafood: My air fryer salmon also pairs well with this cheesy asparagus orzo.
- Mix-ins: If you want to make this pasta side dish into a light meal, you could mix in some easy oven-roasted vegetables and salmon bites.
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Orzo With Asparagus
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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.
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.
How to Make Orzo With Asparagus
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!
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 orzo 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!
Delicious. Served this with macadamia nut crusted Halibut! To die for!
Thank YOU! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I cooked according to directions except I sautéed chopped onions with the garlic. I used Israeli couscous instead of orzo because that is what I had on hand. Next time I will do the same but reduce the amount of butter.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
We added fresh lemon on top, delicious!
It was really good. The family loved it! The one thing I would change is substitute the milk with hot pasta water a little bit at a time until it all comes together. Otherwise, a great side dish!
Can u eat this as a cold salad?
Delicious!! I halved the amount of orzo, parmesan and milk and decreased the butter to 1tbs to make a smaller amount. It was perfect for me and my husband. Had it with some lemon pepper chicken.
I am very glad you and your husband enjoyed it! Thank you for chiming in! 🙂
Just whipped this up and it’s so delicious! Love the creamy texture. I added little grape tomatoes and some baby spinach into the melted butter and garlic mixture. Great side dish! Thanks for the recipe <3
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Delicous and easy to prepare. I have made this several times and it never disappoints.
Yesterday, I used Kerrigold Garlic & Herb butter instead of plain butter, and it added some great flavor, and if you can find it, I suggest trying it.
I also added some grilled shrimp to make it a complete meal.
I am very happy you enjoyed it!! Thank YOU!! 🙂
Just for the record, this is fantastic with almost any veggie. 🙂
Cynthia, I agree – so far I have tried it with fresh peas, broccoli and spinach – all delicious
Deeee-licious! Maybe not as easy as I wanted it to be, but it will be when make it again and again. I’ll have everything measured, prepped and ready to go. Just wanted to let you know how yummy I thought it was!
My favorite side dish! 😀 Very happy you enjoyed it, as well! xo