Pretty AND delicious, this easy Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Bacon & Peppers side dish is going to be the star of your dinner table! Ready in a jiffy and loaded with flavor, this colorful asparagus side dish recipe can be prepped ahead of time and baked at the last minute.
Impress everyone with your chef skills when you serve this Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Bacon dish! The addition of red bell peppers gives it a festive look, making it a great dish for holiday meals.
But, it’s easy enough to make and uses easy-to-find ingredients, so it’s a win-win any time of the year!
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What You Need To Make Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Bacon & Peppers
- Sharp knife – I love Henckels knives for the value and quality!
- Cutting board – make cleanup easy and use a dishwasher friendly cutting board
- Skillet
- Oven-safe casserole dish – these Pyrex dishes are my go-to in the kitchen! From oven to freezer to dishwasher, you gotta love that!
Ingredients to Make This Easy Baked Asparagus Recipe
- Asparagus
- Bacon
- Red bell pepper
- Garlic
- Parmesan cheese
How To Make A Great Keto Aspargus Side Dish
- Chop the bacon and fry it in the skillet. Cook it until crisp, but not too brown.
- While the bacon is cooking, trim and wash the asparagus. See below for tips.
- Mince the garlic and add it to the bacon for the last minute of cooking.
- Remove all but 2 tbsp of bacon fat from the skillet and set the bacon out to cool.
- Toss the asparagus in the bacon fat, garlic and bacon. Add it to a casserole dish and bake it for 10 minutes at 400-F.
- After 10 minutes, add the sliced bell pepper, bacon, and top with cheese. Roast for another 15 minutes at 400-F or until the asparagus is tender crisp. Enjoy!
How to Clean and Prepare Asparagus
Asparagus grows in sandy dirt. The busy tips poke up through the sand and grow up into long stalks, so asparagus can be really sandy and gritty if not cleaned properly. Here’s how to do it:
- Hold a stalk of asparagus with one hand below the bushy tip and the other hand near the end. Bend the stalk until it snaps. Discard the root end – this is tough and woody and won’t taste great. Repeat for all the stalks.
- Rinse the asparagus well under fast running water to wash the sand out of the bushy tip. Take your time to do this, and work with just a few at a time.
- Check to see if you’ve got all the sand out by putting a handful of cleaned asparagus in a shallow pot or dish and swishing it around for a minute or two. Take the asparagus out and let the water settle. There should be no grit or residue on the bottom of the dish. If there is, repeat step #2.
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- Use fresh asparagus – frozen asparagus will not roast nicely because of the water that comes out of the asparagus.
- Use a good quality Parmesan cheese – now is not the time to go cheap! But, if cheap is all you’ve got, use that.
- There’s a lot of salt in this dish from the bacon and the cheese, but you may need to add a touch more.
What To Serve With Cheesy Baked Asparagus With Bacon
I love this dish with any sort of meat, but this keto asparagus side dish has plenty of flavor, so keep your meats on the simple side. Beef tenderloin, bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, or even a simple roasted pork tenderloin will pair amazingly with this dish.
Is This Keto Asparagus Side Dish Recipe Freezer Friendly?
Some people don’t mind frozen asparagus, but I don’t care for it. Freezing and thawing asparagus results in a loss of texture, and the dish will ooze water. For that reason, I recommend not freezing this dish and eating it FRESH instead.
You can make cheesy baked asparagus as simply as topping asparagus with cheese and baking it in the oven at a fairly high heat, around 400-F.
This is totally a keto friendly meal, with about XX net carbs per serving.
Absolutely! Asparagus is a great source of nutrition, and with just 4 net carbs per cup of cooked asparagus, it’s a keto friendly veggie!
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Step By Step Process Images
Ingredients to make keto Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Bacon & Bell Peppers Prepped ingredients. Toss asparagus with bacon fat and roast. Add the bell peppers. Top with bacon and cheese, and roast one final time.
Cheesy Baked Asparagus with Bacon & Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds asparagus
- 1 cup red bell pepper
- 5 slices bacon
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- 1. Slice the bacon and fry until just crisp. Remove the bacon and all but 2 tbsp of the bacon fat. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and sautee until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- 2. Trim and clean the asparagus, then toss it with the 2 tbsp of bacon fat and garlic. Transfer the asparagus, garlic and bacon fat to an oven-safe casserole and bake at 400-F for about 10 minutes.
- 3. Remove the asparagus from the oven and toss it with the red bell pepper. Top with the crisp bacon and parmesan cheese.
- 4. Bake an addition 10-15 minutes at 400-F until the asparagus is tender-crisp. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed. Erythritol carbs (sugar substitutes) are not included in the carbohydrate counts as they have been shown not to impact blood sugar, and they have zero calories and zero carbs. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Want even more keto deliciousness? If you’re a fan of hearty family-friendly dishes, check out this collection of keto casseroles, and these keto soups & chowders are always a hit. Keto corned beef hash is a favorite for breakfast, and for lunch, try this hearty chaffwich sandwich.
A perfect side dish for any occasion. I love the idea of serving asparagus with peppers for a pop of color and extra flavor! Yum!
My family loves asparagus, and this recipe looks incredible! I can’t wait to make it for them. The bacon sends it over the top!
I loved the bell pepper and asparagus combo, so good! Will be making again!
Oh, I love asparagus! The combination of bacon, garlic, and parmesan makes this side dish perfect. I think I’d be happy just eating this without the main course.
Wow this looks really good. Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
I hope you love it!