Baked Asparagus Fries
A healthy alternative to french fries baked to crisp perfection right in the oven!
I was lying in bed one night, tossing and turning, when I had this sudden craving for french fries. It didn’t matter where it was from – McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr – you name it. All I could think about was shoving those crisp fries right into my face. But since our Cabo trip is 2 1/2 weeks away, I opted out for something a little lighter and healthier with these asparagus fries.
Now I’ve quickly learned that these really are the best kind of “fries” ever. They’re so nutritious and healthy, and they won’t add on those extra carb weights. Plus, I skipped the deep fry and threw these bad boys right into the oven, keeping them nice and light, and baked them to absolute crisp perfection.
So the next time you have that sudden urge for those greasy fast food french fries, these asparagus fries are sure to fulfill those cravings. But be sure to have some self control when you make this because you’ll definitely want seconds and thirds!
Baked Asparagus Fries
Ingredients
- 1 cup Panko*
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine Panko and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
- Working in batches, dredge asparagus in flour, dip into eggs, then dredge in Panko mixture, pressing to coat.
- Place asparagus in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
So, I’m making these again tonight for about the zillionth time. I’m unsure if I left a review before, so I’m doing it now!
These are spectacular; a FULL five-star PLUS rating. We make them exactly as directed, and they turn out perfect every single time. They are delicious alone, but sometimes we make an aioli for dipping. Either way, they’re fantastic and I’ll keep using this recipe & accept NO substitutes!!!
Can I prepare ahead of time, refrigerate, then cook them off just before my guests arrive? Trying today!
Love these! Wonder if they could be air fried?
My asparagus “go to” recipe. I followed the recipe exactly and served it with fresh lemon wedges.
Excellent recipe.
Just ran across this to go with the chicken strips I’m making for the kiddos. I happened to pick up two things of fresh asparagus and the process only took about 15 minutes by working in batches of 5 at a time. It smells amazing! I sprayed my pan with avocado oil and misted the tops with avocado oil as well. Great, easy recipe!
Damn Delicious is right! These came out perfectly! I used Italian Breadcrumbs instead of Panko (what I had on hand). I also used fat asparagus, so peeled them. After cutting off the woody ends and peeling, I weighed them to be 8 oz, so cut the other ingredients in half…but had to add a bit more breadcrumbs/parmesan and add some water to the egg to have enough coating for all of them. 12 minutes in the oven and voila! The breading stayed on even while eating them. My husband and I scarfed them down (it was really enough for 3 people as an appetizer), using a dip made with fat free plain yogurt, dijon and a splash of apple cider vinegar…SUBLIME!
Excellent- so easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Even good the next day heated up ( if you ever have any left )
Best asparagus ever!!! So easy and so amazingly delicious. Served with a parmesan herb dip. I will be making these regularly during asparagus season. Wow!
So good and crispy! Only way I can get my son to eat asparagus!
Although I followed the directions exactly, and it was delicious, I don’t know the purpose of the flour. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. None-the-less, my family all enjoyed this and I will make it again! Thanks!
The reason for the flour, is to help the egg to adhere to the asparagus better, otherwise the egg would slide off, and could not absorb the panko and parmesan.
I tried this and it was a complete disaster. Let’s all be honest — you can’t bread asparagus! Breading does NOT stick.Â
You’re doing something wrong
Breading did not stick very well —Â
Hi there – should I chop off the last inch or so of the asparagus before cooking?
i have made these several times and we love them. Nice recipe for me to bring my fresh asparagus from the garden in to cook.
Great recipe. I was surprised by how well these turned out. We’re saving this recipe. Thank you!
Yes, it was Damn Delicious. My teenage sons had 2nds.Â
I laughed so hard at the story behind the creation of asparagus fries. Thanks! It is Christmas Morning 2018 and I wanted something a little different with the filet mignon. This is perfect!
I’ve made these for a couple years and my family loves them!  I would like to know if anybody has tried to prepare and freeze them ahead of time?
It was good but I’m sure they can be fried in olive oil still healthy!
I can see the ingredients on the main Pinterest page, but am unable to find the full directions for making and baking.
Can you email that to me?
We had a glitch on the site but it’s fixed now! Thank you for your patience.
I didn’t have panko so ground a half and half mix of ritz crackers and rice crispies in the food processor. Also added about 1/4 cup of parmesan garlic herb mix to the crumbs (from costco) in addition. These were a huge hit with the boyfriend and me!
Way to get creative about the Panko, Laura! So happy to hear it turned out so well!
We’ve been having these about once a week for the last 4-6 weeks, they are “Damn Delicious”!! I eat them like a fry but my daughter (6) likes to dip them in a little ranch dressing. So glad my husband found this recipe.
Fallow recipe to a T and did not work  out; the Panko did not adhere.
Luv these! I saw some that had to be fried so I looked further until I found this baked version. Mine took the whole 12 minutes but probably could have used one more. I added squirts of lemon juice on a few of them to see what that would be like and it adds an extra zing to them. Luv it both ways. If I had a choice between french fries and these, I’d have these.
I saw your ZUCCHINI PARMESAN CRISPS recipe which is the same type of batter. I used to make these but with eggplant. Anyone who enjoyed these should look up this other recipe. I am going to try this next. If they are the same as the one’s I made, they are melt in your mouth delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Please understand I don’t mean any disrespect when I say this. I like this recipe, but I skimmed part of the blog entry that mentioned you had a craving for french fires. I also found this page because I googled healthy breaded asparagus. Again, I’m not saying this to be a jerk, but I read the nutritional information for the description and it says 58g carbs! Per four! For a medium serving of french fires, fast food, according to Google, is only 48g of carbs! 58 grabs of carbs is like insane.
Hi. I’m wondering if I can prepare these a few hours ahead of baking…should I refrigerate them or can I just leave them out? Thanks so much, these are always a hit, every time I make them
Yes, you can refrigerate them!
These were awesome! Made them last week – great recipe.
These are definitely calling my name. I’ll bet ziplock bags would cut down on the mess… You could reuse the flour one for the egg. Maybe even recycle produce bags. Beautiful pictures!
Just to make sure that I am understanding correctly:
– you are using green asparagus?
– you do not cook them before you fry them?Â
A friend of ours made these Fries using white asparagus – just delicious!Â
Yes and yes! 🙂
Thank you, Chungah!
So next time we will do it more original – I just hope that we will find Panko somewhere; we had used ordinary breadcrumbs.
I love your site, your recipes and your professional pictures!
Greetings from Switzerland 🙂
I made these without the parm (not a cheese girl) and they turned out great! I served them with a quick avocado sauce (avocado, lemon juice, garlic and a splash of water in the food processor). Thank you! Will be a new staple for us.Â
Using narrow, deep containers like tall glasses works well. In this way one grasps only the ends and one does not get one’s fingers full of flour, egge and crumbs.
I featured this recipe in a BuzzFeed post, check it out here! Â http://www.buzzfeed.com/threeolivesbranch/15-amazing-asparagus-recipes-to-jump-into-spring-26qy9Â
LOL! i love this and i love you!
Was starting to be a fail getting the coating mixture to stick even when double dipping (plus loosing lots of cheese and panko in the egg). Â I was using fresh grated Parmesan from the dairy case and might of had different results with the stuff in the plastic jars. Â I switched to dredging them in plain flower salt pepper first before the egg and then the coating adheres with no trouble .
If you rinse the asparagus in water and then shake it off and put it in a bag with all purpose flour shake it good then lay it out on a baking sheet and let sit 20 minutes and then dip in batter and crumbs it will keep the crumbs from falling off,works on all veggies too.
Made these last night – so easy and so delicious! Definitely better to eat them right away when fresh out of the oven. I made a dip for them as well with a herb and garlic epicure mix I had and it was delicious! I od’d on asparagus! ha ha! This would be great to make for a dinner party, thanks for the recipe!
How big is a serving size and how many calories are in that serving?
Thanks!
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
I just made these for lunch to accompany some fish for a healthier ‘fish and chips’ and they were lovely! I had no panko or parmesan to hand so I grated a slice of almost stale bread and put the crumbs in the oven for a few minutes to toast them lightly. I used nutritional yeast in place of the parmesan, although I think parmesan would certainly add some more flavour. Overall, I’ll certainly make these again 😀 Thanks so much!
Oh my gosh, I made these and I absolutely loooooved them! Thank you for sharing!
I made these tonight and they are very good and healthy
Do you have any sort of dipping sauce recipe that would go good with this?
We loved this with Ranch and garlic aioli.
I tried this and while time consuming very delicious. I also tried this with zucchini and made zucchini chips. My kids loved them both, thanks for the recipe and the inspiration.
So I tried making these tonight, I have a question about the method! My flour didn’t stick to the asparagus and just made a mess in the egg wash! Any suggestions?! I know this was pinned a while ago so I’m hoping for a reply 🙂
A little bit of a mess is normal, but as long as the egg wash stays on, there should be no issues with the coating staying put.
This recipe is amazing! My boys don’t like asparagus at all and they loved this!
Oh my goodness! This recipe is so good! So much better and healthier than french fries. Can’t wait to make the zucchini fries next!
Since it’s just me, I cut the recipe in half. They were so good. I ate all of them.
i want to serve as an appetizer with a dipping sauce…what do you reccomemd?
These would go great with Ranch!
Does anyone by chance know the nutritional info? I’m doing weight watchers and want to try these but need nutritional info..
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can gooogle “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Hi there. Just printed it. Will try this weekend.
I wonder: will the recipe work with okra? I had battered okra at this fancy” restaurant this past weekend and it was very disappointing. Advisement please. Thank you
Okra sounds like a great idea but without further recipe testing (and for someone who has actually never cooked with okra before), I cannot answer with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
Made these over the weekend and were delicious!!
can i use egg beaters instead of whole eggs?will it change the taste?
Unfortunately I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried using egg beaters myself. Please use your best judgment.
Amazing!!! Made these two times now and tonight was the first time I made them for my husband, I was a little worried because he’s not a big asparagus fan but he loved them! I made a dipping sauce of a little mayo and siracha, perfect combo! Staple recipe at our house now!
Here in Brazil I will do this weekend for a group of friends. I love asparagus!
So I tried making these last night and it was a bit more complex than I thought. The fact that if you are going to make a bunch of asparagus it is very tedious to go one by one. The fact that the panko needs to be pressed onto the Asparagus also makes it time consuming and my fingers always turn into huge wads of wet flower and panko. I managed to make 10 and the rest I just did with bacon for sake of time. They did taste good but its not ideal for a quick and easy meal without having to waste a lot of flour and panko and dirty several bowls =(
Jennifer, it is actually best to work in batches for the breading process – going one by one will just take too long!
Thanks I will try that the next time and I’ll make sure to pick a time I am not crunched for time. I will just list this under my weekend veggies column lol
I am so excited I came across these!!! Usually with Asparagus I would bake them in the oven after wrapping them with bacon. I am looking forward to seeing if these come out less chewy then my bacon version and more crunchy like french fries. I absolutely love french fries and if I could substitute them for this I would be saved! =) Thanks again!
My husband hates asparagus so I’m going to try this. I bet he will like!!!
If you want to skip the eggs, just mix 1 tbsp of ground flax meal and 3 tbsp of water. They are delicious!
I was wondering if you had a calorie count on these? They look amazing and I want to try them, but with the cheese, egg and bread crumbs….just wondering where they fit in with my diet? Thanks!
Unfortunately, as I am not a registered dietician, I am not comfortable sharing nutritional information for any of my recipes. I recommend utilizing online calorie counters at your discretion to obtain such information.
However, I have recently teamed up with registered dietician, Jessica Penner from Smart Nutrition. She will be providing important nutritional information for select recipes.
I’m betting you find out the main calorie savings on these will be from the fact that they are baked, not fried. The carb difference between fries and these with both flour and panko bread crumbs will be a little but not as much as you think.
What would one serving be like? About how many sticks?
It is very hard to say as the size of asparagus can vary.
I want to make these tonite as I just found your recipe. However, I do not have the Panco product. Is there something I could just substitute for tonite or maybe not? thanks, erika
Any other type of breadcrumb topping should work just fine.
This recipe is awesome!!! If I have some frozen asparagus in my freezer can I use those for the recipe?
This recipe is really best when fresh asparagus is used. You can certainly use frozen asparagus but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish without further recipe testing.
I made these tonight and they were delicious! I’m on a bit of a rosemary kick, so next time I make these, I might add some to the panko/parmesan. Thanks for the recipe!
Would asparagus be able to be replaced with green beans? Asparagus is very hard to find in the country I live in. 🙂
Green beans would be an amazing substitute!
I just finished making these and they are soooooo good. Nice crunch to them , Thank you for this great idea.
These were awesome. I am always on the hunt for veggie recipes that don’t contain copious amounts of cheese or butter (while those are tasty too, not so helpful for the waistline) These were perfect. I was only sad that I only bought one bunch of asparagus….
These looks so delicious. My husband and I love asparagus. Thank you for showing me another fantastic way to cook it!
Hey!
I LOVED this recipe. I just cooked some up a minute ago and they were delish! I made mine low-carb by using crushed pork rinds (which I usually HATE!) and Mrs. Dash as my bread crumbs (1tbsp of Mrs. Dash per cup of crushed pork rinds) and coconut flour instead of regular flour.
I’m new to cooking…like…REALLY new. I was just curious, why do we put the asparagus in the flour first?
Thanks for the amazing recipe and post. It’s absolutely lovely!
Ronnie The-Bear
By using the flour first, it gives something for the egg to cling to. If not, the breading would slide right off!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!! Going to make them again tonite! Even great in salad….
These look wonderful! I too am a fry lover, I’d even go as far as to say addict, it doesn’t matter where they are from! Nothing can satisfy me like a greasy, crispy fry! I’m so excited to have found this healthier version! I can’t wait to make them!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
http://www.blueeeyes-and-chives.blogspot.ca
Such a great idea!!! And your photos are gorgeous!
Where do i find panko? & what is it?
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
It has now become so mainstream that it can be found in the baking section beside regular breadcrumbs, etc. I live way out in the boonies of TX, so if I can find it, just about anybody can in the USA!!!! Can’t wait to try these!! I LOVE asparagus, and this sounds like a wonderful addition to my ways to prepare it! Thanks!!
I think I have found my new favorite dish! Pinned
Asparagus fries are my favourite part of spring!
Looks delicious! I have a quick question – I’ve noticed in a lot of your recipes that you like to dredge in whole eggs, rather than just egg whites. The few times so far that I’ve tried your method I found the eggs getting cooked scrambled on my chick / veggie. It makes me want to go back to egg whites. Anything you can suggest to avoid a scrambled egg crust on everything? Any reason you do full eggs rather than just the whites? Thanks! I love your blog!
I prefer to use whole eggs because when using egg whites, I am always wasting the egg yolks, and I am not a fan of wasting food. I also don’t mind nor really taste the “eggy” taste, but you should definitely use the method that works best for you. It may be best to use egg whites to suit your preferences.
I’ve tried a similar recipe before and this is officially our favorite way to eat asparagus! I whipped up a garlicky dipping sauce and these were perfection. Awesome way to jazz up veggies!
How did you make the dipping sauce? Thx
OMG!! I absolutely LOVE asparagus and what a treat to get “fries” like this. Can’t wait to get to the market and bring home a bundle or two. Thanks for the great recipe.
SO crispy!! I wish I had these instead of those curly fries I had last night….
Love that panko coating, these look so good!
LOVE the healthy alternative to fries, and since I’m in Tokyo, I can get my fill of Panko flakes! Delish indeed!
These look delicious and so easy to make. The perfect appetizer. My family often goes through the McD’s drive through just for fries!
I get those crazy french fry craving, too, but I’m also trying to get bikini ready for a trip. These look like an awesome alternative! Just bought a large bunch of asparagus, so now I know what to do with them.
Oh man, I love this recipe! Also, it looks like you use a pie plate for dipping…..such a great idea!
Oh my Lord, I’m gonna try this ^___^
looks sooo good! And I love asparagus so
this version should taste great c; Xx
I’m going to the farmers market today so asparagus will be added to my list. I am so making these yummy looking fries today! You rock!
I’ve seen others do asparagus fries and have always wanted to try them. And leave it to you to do these! These are your next mushrooms or cauli/parm tots you did a month or so ago. Wow, they look incredible!! I can’t believe there’s no oil, baked, and so easy. And leave it to you to make asparagus look glamorous!
Wow, these really are healthy, no oil or anything! I just bought some asparagus today, I might have to give these bad boys a try! : )
I made some last week. I used Italian flavored Pablo and they got eaten way before the pan had time to cool. They are so good!
That’s great April! Thanks for sharing.