Blanched asparagus with homemade garlic aioli is a delicious side dish made with raw asparagus spears, fresh garlic, lemon juice, mayonnaise, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Blanched asparagus is a quick way to prepare asparagus by parboiling raw asparagus spears. Serve with this garlicky lemon aioli dipping sauce that takes 5 minutes to whip up.
How To Make Blanched Asparagus and Aioli
Gather the ingredients. Use a garlic press or mortar and pestle to mash the garlic into a paste.
Add the lemon juice, crushed garlic paste, mayonnaise, olive oil, salt, and pepper to a bowl.
Mix until well combined. Set aside.
Wash and cut the ends off the asparagus spears.
Bring water to a boil in a wide rimmed pot. Boil asparagus stalks for about 30 seconds to a minute until the asparagus stalks change colors.
Place the blanched asparagus on a paper towel lined plate to dry.
Serve this as a side dish for roasted lamb kabobs, hawawshi minced meat pita sandwiches, kafta burgers, chicken tawook, and slow-roasted lamb shanks.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a wide pot. The asparagus spears will reduce in length once you chop off the bottom 1.5". Make sure the pot is wider than the spears, so the asparagus can lay flat in the boiling water.
- Mash the garlic or use a garlic press. Don't use a knife to mince the garlic, because even with your ninja knife mincing skills, you will have chunks of garlic in the mayo aioli sauce. Unless that's what you are going for, I highly recommend crushing the garlic into a paste like texture so that it evenly blends into the aioli sauce.
- Remove the asparagus when you see the change in colors. Raw asparagus (photo on the left) will turn to a darker color green (photo on the right) once it's blanched.
📋 Recipe
Blanched Asparagus With Garlic Aioli
Ingredients
Asparagus
- 2.2 lbs asparagus
Garlic Aoili
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3 garlic cloves mashed or crushed
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- 1 lemon about ¼ cup of lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste about ⅛ teaspoon each
Instructions
- Make the garlic aioli. In a large bowl, add the mayonnaise, crushed garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside. See note 2 for garlic paste.
- Prep the asparagus. Wash and chop the ends off of the asparagus (chop about 1.5" or 4 cm from the base).
- Blanch the asparagus. In a wide stovetop pot with a lid, bring 2" (5 cm) deep of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a layer of asparagus into the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute. Once the asparagus turns colors from a light green to a dark green, remove the asparagus using a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate. See note 1.
- Serve asparagus with the garlic aioli.
Notes
- If desiring crunchy asparagus, blanch the asparagus for 30 seconds.
- Don't mince the garlic with a knife because the garlic chunks will not evenly disperse into the garlic aioli sauce. I recommend using a garlic press to crush the garlic or mashing the garlic with a mortar and pestle. Here's a post on how to make garlic paste.
- Use fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice for this garlic aioli sauce.
- Storage: Store the blanched asparagus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep the garlic aioli separate in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing either the blanched asparagus or the garlic aioli.
- Variations:
- Reduce the amount of garlic. If you are not much of an intense garlic person, reduce the garlic. It's easy to add more garlic if needed.
- Add some chili oil to the garlic aioli for spice.
Heather says
Fast, delicious, and perfect for a side dish or appetizer. The aioli dip was really really good.
Lily says
So glad you liked it!