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    Home » Recipes » Side Dish

    Blanched Asparagus With Garlic Aioli

    By Lily・Published: Sep 15, 2021・Updated: Oct 3, 2024・Post may have affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Blanched asparagus with homemade garlic aioli is a delicious side dish made with asparagus spears, fresh garlic, lemon juice, mayonnaise, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

    blanched asparagus and garlic aioli

    It's a perfect side dish for roasted lamb kabobs, hawawshi minced meat pita sandwiches, kafta burgers, chicken tawook, and slow-roasted lamb shanks.

    Blanched asparagus is a quick way to prepare asparagus by parboiling raw asparagus spears. Serve with a garlicky lemon aioli dipping sauce that takes 5 minutes to whip up.

    What I Love About This Recipe

    I love how simple and delicious this recipe is. Depending on how much you like garlic, you can heavily dip or lightly dip the blanched asparagus in the aioli sauce. It's an excellent meal prep recipe or family gathering recipe.

    Ingredient Notes

    raw asparagus on a countertop
    • Asparagus: I recommend fresh asparagus with either thin or thick stalks. The asparagus I bought for this recipe was the 2.25 lb package from Costco.
    ingredients needed to make lemon garlic aioli
    • Mayonnaise: Any type of mayonnaise works for this recipe.
    • Garlic: I recommend using fresh garlic cloves for this recipe.
    • Lemon: Fresh lemon juice makes the best garlic lemon aioli.
    • Olive oil: I really like Californian extra virgin olive oil or Greek extra virgin olive oil.

    How To Make Asparagus And Aioli

    This blanched asparagus with garlic aioli is a two-part recipe. I prefer eating the asparagus once it's cooled off, so I make it first. If you prefer hot asparagus, make the garlic aioli first.

    Blanch The Asparagus

    Wash the asparagus spears. Cut the ends off of the asparagus spears. On the stovetop, boil 2" (5 cm) of water in a wide pot that has a lid. Once the water is boiling, lower ⅓ of the asparagus spears using a slotted spoon into the hot water.

    chop the ends off of the raw asparagus spears
    put the raw asparagus in boiling water

    Cover the wide pot with a lid. Boil for about 30 seconds to a minute until the asparagus stalks change colors.

    cover the raw asparagus
    remove the lid and check the blanched asparagus

    Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining asparagus spears.

    remove the blanched asparagus with a slotted spoon
    place the blanched asparagus on a paper towel plate

    Make The Garlic Aioli

    Mash the garlic, salt, and pepper using a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, use a garlic press and add salt and pepper to the pressed garlic.

    Hint: Do not chop the garlic. It needs to be really thinly mashed in order to blend into the mayo aioli sauce.

    put the garlic cloves, salt, and pepper in a bowl to get mashed
    add the mashed garlic in a bowl

    Add the mayonnaise and lemon juice to the mashed garlic mixture. Mix well with a spoon.

    squeeze the lemon into the bowl
    mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and mashed garlic

    Add the olive oil while continuing to mix with a spoon until fully blended.

    add the olive oil to the garlic aioli
    mix the garlic aioli well

    Serve the garlic aioli with blanched asparagus.

    dipping blanched asparagus in garlic aioli

    Tips and Tricks

    • Use a wide pot with a lid. 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.

    Variations and Substitutions

    • 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.

    FAQs

    Can you eat asparagus raw?

    Yes, you can eat asparagus raw.

    What are the health benefits of asparagus?

    Asparagus is high in folic acid. Asparagus also contains potassium, fiber, thiamin, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C.

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    📋 Recipe

    blanched asparagus with garlic aioli

    Blanched Asparagus With Garlic Aioli

    Author: Lily
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Prep: 5 minutes mins
    Cook: 10 minutes mins
    Total: 15 minutes mins
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 8
    This blanched asparagus with homemade garlic aioli dipping sauce is a quick side dish that can be served with chicken, fish, or roasted lamb.

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    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

    Blanch the Asparagus

    • Wash and chop the ends off of the asparagus (chop about 1.5" or 4 cm from the base).
    • In a wide stovetop pot with a lid, bring 2" (5 cm) deep of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add ⅓ of the asparagus into the boiling water. Cover with a lid. Once the asparagus turns colors from a light green to a dark green (about 30 seconds to 1 minute), remove the asparagus using a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate. See note 1.
    • Add the second and third batches of asparagus in the same way until all of the asparagus is blanched. Set aside.

    Make The Garlic Aoili

    • Peel and mash the garlic cloves with salt and pepper. Mash the garlic very finely using a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, use a garlic press. See note 2.
    • Cut the lemon in half and juice it. Remove any lemon seeds if necessary. 
    • Measure out the mayonnaise into a bowl. Add the mashed garlic and lemon juice. Using a spoon, continuously stir the mayonnaise while adding the olive oil. Continue stirring until all of the olive oil is mixed into the garlic aioli sauce.

    Equipment

    mercer cutting knife.
    Chef's Knife
    acacia wood cutting board.
    Cutting Board
    knife sharpener.
    Knife Sharpener
    mortar and pestle.
    Mortar and Pestle
    lemon squeezer.
    Lemon Squeezer

    Notes

    1. If desiring crunchy asparagus, blanch the asparagus for 30 seconds. 
    2. Don't mince the garlic with a knife because the garlic chunks will not evenly disperse into the garlic aioli sauce.
    3. Use fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice for this garlic aioli sauce.
    4. 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 /8 | Calories: 244 kcal | Carbohydrates: 6 g | Protein: 3 g | Fat: 24 g | Saturated Fat: 4 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 20 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 12 mg | Sodium: 177 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 3 g

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    About Lily

    Howdy! My name is Lilian, but my friends call me Lily. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Heather

      April 03, 2022 at 3:53 pm

      5 stars
      Fast, delicious, and perfect for a side dish or appetizer. The aioli dip was really really good.

      Reply
      • Lily

        April 03, 2022 at 4:02 pm

        So glad you liked it!

        Reply

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    I'm Lily

    I'm an American Lebanese living in Texas. My kitchen, or matbakh, is a hodgepodge of recipes from the U.S. and Mediterranean region.

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