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Made with a handful of simple ingredients like fresh garlic, cream, and two kinds of cheese, this Cheesy Baked Asparagus Gratin is rich, creamy, and super easy to prepare. Enjoy this easy and delicious creamy baked asparagus recipe with your favorite dinner or as a side at your next holiday gathering.
This is, hands down, the most delicious baked asparagus recipe you will ever make.
In fact, I may even go so far as saying that it is one of my top five favorite side dishes – right up there with my mashed sweet potatoes, creamed corn, shredded Brussels sprout salad, and glazed carrots.
If you’re looking for a fast and delicious side dish recipe to serve for the holidays or with your favorite weeknight baked chicken, you’ll love this asparagus recipe!
Table of Contents
What You Need
- asparagus
- fresh garlic
- red chili flakes (optional)
- heavy cream
- parmesan Cheese
- mozzarella Cheese
- fresh thyme
A couple of notes before I move on to the cheese.
First, this recipe calls for a pretty fantastic amount of fresh garlic (at least if you’re asking me). If you’re not a garlic lover, or you hate the lingering smell of garlic breath, then you may want to consider scaling back a wee bit.
Second, feel free to replace the asparagus with another type of veggie. Like broccoli! or Brussels sprouts! or cauliflower! or even gross (jk) green beans!
The Best Cheese for this Recipe
You’ll notice that I used mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese in this recipe. I choose mozzarella because it’s a fantastic melting cheese (pizza, anyone?) and pretty mild in flavor. Parmesan, on the other hand, is much bolder in flavor (one of my favorites) and, like mozzarella, is readily available at all supermarkets.
Other fantastic cheeses for this recipe include,
- Gruyère
- Fontina
- Taleggio
How to Make Cheesy Baked Asparagus Gratin
Lucky for all of us food-loving people, this is one seriously easy recipe.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Wash, dry, and trim the ends of each asparagus spear (about 1/2 to 1-inch).
- Transfer the asparagus to an oval 9″x13″ baking dish (or equivalent) and toss with the slivered garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme.
- Drizzle the heavy cream over the asparagus and sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
- Once the 20 minutes is complete or the asparagus is nearly tender, set your oven to broil. Allow the asparagus and cheese to broil for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 minute. Best enjoyed immediately.
In other words, dump everything in an oval baking dish and bake until the asparagus is tender and the cheese is bubbly.
Why you’ll love this Creamy Baked Asparagus
- It’s the perfect harmony of healthy baked with guilty, creamy, cheesy goodness.
- The garlic. Yes, my friends. Keep a pack of gum or breath mints nearby because there is a lot of garlic in this mighty side dish and it is worth every last clove.
- Prep takes just 5 minutes!
- Speaking of prep…you can easily prepare this side dish ahead of time and pop it in the oven 20 minutes before dinnertime.
- Your kid may just learn to love asparagus…but don’t take my word for it, my child still refuses to come anywhere near the stuff.
More Side Dish Recipes,
Roasted Delicata Squash Recipe
If you try making this Cheesy Baked Asparagus Gratin Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to read your thoughts and feedback!
Cheesy Baked Asparagus Gratin Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds asparagus, woody ends trimmed
- 8 cloves garlic, slivered
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Transfer asparagus to an oval 9″x13″ baking dish. Sprinkle with the slivered garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme. Gently toss the asparagus to distribute the garlic evenly among the layered asparagus spears.
- Drizzle the heavy cream over the asparagus and sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Gently shuffle the asparagus spears to distribute some of the cheese among the lower layers of the asparagus.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until asparagus spears are tender and cheese is melted.
- Set oven to broil. Allow the cheese to broil for 1-2 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 minute. Best enjoyed immediately.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute the heavy whipping cream with half and half, if desired.
- Recipe adapted from delish
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I make this recipe in the microwave and how would I change to recipe?
While this recipe is best when baked for that golden, cheesy top, you can make a quicker version in the microwave. To adapt it, blanch or steam the asparagus first until just tender. Then place it in a microwave-safe dish, top with the cheese mixture, and microwave in 30-second intervals until the cheese is melted and bubbly. It won’t have the same crispy finish as the oven version, but it’ll still be creamy and cheesy.
Enjoyed this!
Should this be baked covered or uncovered? Thanks!
uncovered is fine 🙂
Really Delicious !
Just a thought…can this be put together 2-3 hours before baking ?
I don’t see why not. You should keep it in the refrigerator and you may have to add a little more time.
Thank you, Jessica . This asparagus dish is delicious and our guests raved 😊
Awesome recipe!!! And really easy. Thanks
Everyone enjoyed this recipe, best asparagus I have ever eaten. Thanks!
Thanks for the kind feedback Stella 🙂
Yummy
#theforkedspoon it was delicious!!!! I used parmesan and NY style white cheddar served with marinated salmon.
Amazing! I’m making this for the second time in 2 weeks at my family’s urging.
Way to much garlic for me.