4 Ways to Cut Asparagus to Use in All of Your Favorite Seasonal Recipes (2024)

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Bright green bundles of asparagus lining the farmers' market stands are a surefire sign that spring has sprung and warmer weather is on the way. And whether you’re serving this beloved spring vegetable simply sautéed, in a crunchy homemade coleslaw, or incorporated into a cheesy quiche for brunch, it’s important to know how to cut asparagus the right way.

We’ll explain how to trim away the tough, woody ends (and how to know just how much to trim), and walk you through all of the ways to slice, dice, and shave asparagus spears to use in all of your favorite seasonal recipes. Grab your knife and get ready to make the most of spring’s bounty while asparagus is at its peak.

Tools You'll Need to Cut Asparagus

To get started, you'll just need a few basic kitchen tools:

• Cutting board: Start by securing your cutting board so it doesn’t slip and slide while you’re trimming and slicing your asparagus. Place a non-slip pad or a few damp paper towels under the cutting board to keep it secure.
• Chef’s knife: Your handy chef’s knife will take care of trimming and slicing.
• Vegetable peeler (optional): You can use a vegetable peeler to trim extra-thick stalks. This will help minimize waste and you’ll get the most bang for your buck.
• Your hands: Your own two hands are always the best tools in a cook’s kitchen. When dealing with asparagus, you can use your hands to snap off the ends of asparagus stalks.

Trimming Asparagus

Before you cut the asparagus, you’ll need to trim the stalks. Every asparagus stalk has a breaking point—a spot at the thicker end of the stalk where an inch or so of the tough, fibrous end will naturally break away from the rest of the sweet, tender top. Each stalk in a bunch tends to have a similar breaking point.

Start by choosing one piece of asparagus from the bunch: hold it by each end and give it a good snap. Once you have an idea of where to trim, line up the remaining asparagus stalks (you can even keep them secured in their rubber band if they come with one) and use your chef’s knife to remove the fibrous ends from the rest of the bunch.

If a lot of your asparagus stalks are tough and on the thicker side, you might notice that when you snap off the ends, you’re leaving behind almost half of the asparagus. In this case, you can use a vegetable peeler to trim the ends. Peel off a few layers of skin from the bottoms of the asparagus and you’ll reach the center, which naturally tends to be much more tender.

4 Ways to Cut Asparagus

1. Bite-size pieces: A recipe may call for you to cut the asparagus into bite-size pieces (sometimes on a bias). Group a few stalks of asparagus together on your cutting board and slice them into even pieces. The recipe will usually call for pieces that are anywhere from 1 to 3 inches long. Use them as a quick side dish or sauté the pieces and blend them into a rich, creamy soup.
2. Thinly sliced: Though this is a less common application, slicing asparagus on a very thin bias is a delicious way to enjoy the vegetable raw. Follow the same technique as you would cutting the asparagus into bite-size pieces, but slice much thinner: aim for somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. Pair it with walnuts and nutty cheese in a seasonal salad.
3. Diced: No need to slice on a diagonal here. Hold your knife perpendicular to the trimmed ends of the asparagus stalks and cut into thumbnail-sized rounds. Give them a quick blanch in some lightly salted water and use them wherever you would use fresh or frozen peas, like in fried rice or risotto.
4. Shaved: To shave asparagus, you can either hold the stalk in your non-dominant hand or rest it on the cutting board. Holding a vegetable peeler in your dominant hand, run the blade of the peeler down the length of each stalk, peeling it into thin ribbons. We like to eat these both raw or lightly blanched. Scatter them over pizza and flatbreads, or pair them with other raw vegetables in a bright, springtime salad.