This delicious creamy cheesy baked asparagus is a great way to enjoy asparagus, when you’re feeling like something a little different. White sauce is poured over asparagus and topped with aged cheddar cheese until bubbly and golden.
When you’re feeling something a little saucy, this creamy cheesy baked asparagus definitely fits the bill. While it may look like a bit of a hot mess, I have found this the best way to cook it up. I love the crispy cheesy bits. I love that part of the asparagus is left naked. And I love that you can take as much or as little of the cheesy sauce as you like.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Asparagus – thinner asparagus spears will work best, as they are sure to be tender in the short oven time. If your asparagus is particularly thick, you may wish to blanch them briefly or place them on a plate and microwave for 30-45 seconds to precook them slightly.
Milk – 2% or higher milk will produce the nicest white sauce.
Aged Cheddar Cheese – I love using aged, white cheddar cheese here, as it brings a lot of flavour to this dish. Of course, any cheddar cheese will work here, as would Parmesan.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour. Stir together into a paste and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Gradually add the milk to the pan, stirring until smooth.
- Cook white sauce, stirring regularly until thickened and coating the back of a spoon.
- Season the white sauce with salt and pepper.
- Pour the white sauce over the middle of the asparagus on a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with cheese and bake.
Recipe Tips
Don’t forget to season the white sauce with salt and pepper!
Place your asparagus spears on the baking sheet with half the spears going one say and half going the other direction. This way you have the asparagus tips peeking out at both ends.
Watch your parchment paper under the broiler. Some paper doesn’t like that level of heat. Trim off any excess and Broil on a lower rack, if necessary.
Get the Recipe: Creamy Cheesy Baked Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 lb asparagus, trimmed of woody ends
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 teaspoon dry powdered mustard
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cups grated aged white cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° with rack in centre of oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick foil.
- If your asparagus is thick, blanch the asparagus in a large pan of salted water for one minute, remove and refresh in ice water or microwave on a plate for about 90 seconds. If your asparagus is thin, you're probably good to go as is. Divide the asparagus in half and lay on parchment on baking sheet with half of the tip ends pointing in one direction and the other tip ends pointing the other direction, overlapping in the middle. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk to form a smooth sauce. Return to the heat, stir and simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened and coating the back of a spoon.
- Remove from the heat and beat in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Taste and add more salt, as needed. Season with freshly ground pepper.
- Pour sauce over the middle of the asparagus. Top with the grated cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 400 ° for 8-10 minutes, then move rack to upper part of oven, switch your oven to broil and broil until the sauce is bubbly and golden.
- Top with a bit more freshly ground pepper and serve immediately.
Notes
More Asparagus Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
I am making a ribeye steak and I thought this would make the perfect side dish. Will let you know how it turns out, the steak I mean, the asparagus that looks divine.
Enjoy Kelly! I think it will be great with the steak :)
Love your recipes
Thanks so much, Kathy :)
The recipe says ⅓ c flour and a little less than 1 cup of milk?!? And then cook until it’s thickened? It was soooo
thick I hardly cooked it more to thicken. I also added ½ cup more of milk to make the sauce where it would pour onto the asparagus. What in the world did I do wrong!!!
Hi Dotti, I’m not sure. The sauce is fairly thick (not necessarily pourable). Perhaps you heat was a little higher and it just cooked quickly. Adding a bit more milk isn’t ever a big deal though, if you find it too thick.
This looks absolutely delicious ! This is probably an ignorant question , but when you say “Scant 1 cup of milk”, what does that mean?
Thanks Connie. Not an ignorant question at all. A scant 1 cup of milk means to measure just a tad less than one full cup. It usually shows up in recipes when the recipe has been portioned or when it has been adjusted from one unit of measure to another. In this case, I converted the measurement from milliliters, which equated to just less that a full Imperial cup, so rather than just say 1 cup, saying “scant”, says to use a touch less. Hope that makes sense :)
This looks so good but I’m not a fan of white cheddar, could I use another white cheese?
Hi Kristen. Sure. Try Asiago, Gruyere or a similar white cheese that melts well.
holy crud!…this looks soooo delicious. i will make it this weekend and i don’t know if i will share…hmmm…oh, of course i will, but i’ll have to double the recipe for sure.
Thanks so much, Jules. Enjoy!
I’m loving that layer of crusted cheese on top!
Oh yes … that’s definitely the best part :)
This looks insane and I will be trying it very soon. I have a question about #2 in the directions. It says to divide the asparagus in half. Does that mean it yeilds two pans of this yummy goodness?
Hi Robin, No, it just makes one pan. You divide it in half to use one half to point in one direction and the other half to point in the other direction. (as in the picture). Of course, you don’t have to do that. You can lay them side-by-side all in one direction if you like.
Wow, this looks beyond delicious. Asparagus has always been a favorite of mine.
Thanks so much, Amy.
Creamy Baked Asparagus and Aged Cheddar – how many calories per serving does it have – looks so good.
I have no idea, Paula, but if you find out, don’t tell me.
Made this last night – LOVED IT!!! Thanks for the post!
So glad you enjoyed it, Beth. Thanks for letting me know.
WOW! This looks DElicious! I’d have to make 2 batches – one for me and one for the hubby.
Haha! I like that idea :)
Hi Jennifer! I Love your recipe delicious and healthy. The photos are amazing :-)
Hi Gisele and thanks so much. Thanks for stopping by!
Made it this weekend and it was absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Susan. Thanks for coming back to let me know :)
I second Renee! This looks ridiculous and I love it. We’re eating SO much asparagus these days, I’d love to serve this version at a cookout soon! So looking forward to more warm days and BBQs coming up. And learning what “warm day” means in Celcius versus Fahrenheit ;)
I can sympathize, Sophie. I was in 8th grade when Canada went metric, so I was stuck in between the two for many years (still am, really). Here’s a quick trick – for Celsius – double it and add 30 to get Fahrenheit, so 25C. = about 80F.
This looks totally awesome!!!!! Cheese and asparagus, with prep time only being 10 minutes, I’m in. Will be preparing this soon. Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome. Enjoy!
Good Lord woman. This looks absolutely insane and I must have it. Thanks for sharing such wonderful, cheesy goodness.
.You’re welcome, Renee :) Always glad to share cheesy goodness