Garlic Butter Asparagus Pasta

Name: Garlic Butter Asparagus Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup dry orzo; 1 pound fresh asparagus (, tips only (cut the asparagus about 2 to 3-inches from the top)); 4 tablespoons butter; 3 garlic cloves (, minced); 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese; 2 tablespoons skim milk; 1 tablespoon fresh parsley; salt and fresh ground pepper (, to taste); shredded parmesan cheese for garnish (, optional)

by Katerina

4.92 from 23 votes

Mar 27, 2015, Updated Jun 03, 2023

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Garlic Butter Asparagus Pasta is made with orzo pasta and fresh asparagus, tossed in a garlic butter sauce and parmesan cheese. It’s an easy 20-minute, cheesy side dish!

Orzo pasta and asparagus in a skillet with parmesan cheese.

Easy Orzo Pasta With Asparagus

This Asparagus Pasta recipe is heavenly. I mean, smother anything in garlic butter sauce and it’ll automatically taste great, but this pasta is next-level delicious. Just look at that layer of golden orzo and beautiful, bright green asparagus covered in buttery amazingness… is your stomach rumbling yet?

When I need a quick side dish that I know everybody will eat, I whip up this simple mix of cheesy asparagus and tender pasta. It goes with just about any meal you can think of – chicken, steak, fish, you name it. You can even serve it by itself as a light dinner, if you want!

However you want to enjoy it is just fine, as long as you give it a try. You will not regret digging into this parmesan pasta with asparagus, which you can make in just 20 minutes by the way! Prepare to be blown away by the cheesy garlic butter goodness!

(Also… If you’re looking for another cheesy asparagus pasta recipe, check out this Creamy Chicken Asparagus Pasta and Cheese Recipe!)

What Makes This Asparagus Pasta So Good?

There are a lot of orzo pasta recipes out there, so why make this one? Good question! Here’s why I’m so in love with this asparagus pasta recipe:

Cheesy and Buttery. I just can’t stop talking about how fantastic this garlicky, cheesy veggie pasta tastes. I don’t know about you, but if I could enjoy a parmesan garlic butter sauce every day, I probably would!
Quick. As mentioned above, you can make this pasta in 20 minutes! Plus, most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry or in the fridge.
Healthy. Look at all that fresh asparagus! This pasta side dish is a great way to encourage your kids to gobble down veggies.

Tender orzo pasta with asparagus in a garlic butter sauce.

Recipe Ingredients

Let’s talk about what you need to round up to make this pasta! Keep in mind that you can find the exact quantities for each ingredient in the recipe card below.

Pasta – I like to use orzo in this recipe, but you could also use another small pasta like penne.
Asparagus – Just use the tips for this dish (cut the asparagus about 2 to 3 inches from the top).
Butter – Salted and unsalted both work – if you use salted, just reduce the amount of salt you add in later.
Garlic – I like to mince garlic cloves because it provides the strongest flavor, but you can use store-bought minced garlic or even garlic powder in a pinch.
Parmesan Cheese – Grated parmesan cheese tastes best here, but you can use pre-shredded parmesan if you’re in a hurry.
Milk – I prefer to use skim milk, but 1 or 2% milk can be substituted.
Seasoning – Keep it simple with salt, pepper, and some fresh parsley!

How To Make Garlic Butter Asparagus Pasta

This asparagus pasta is one of those side dishes that forces me to go back and steal just one more bite (make that TEN) while I’m packing it up to put away in the fridge. But, before that, here’s how it all comes together (note that you can find the full set of directions in the recipe card as well!):

Prepare the pasta. Cook the orzo according to the package directions, adding the asparagus tips in for the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Then, remove everything from the heat and drain.
Add butter to a skillet. Next, stir in the garlic and cook it for 5 minutes. Continue to stir so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
Combine the ingredients. Then, stir in the prepared orzo and asparagus stalks, along with the cheese, milk, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Enjoy. Cook everything for 1 more minute, garnish with parmesan cheese, and finally, serve!

Asparagus pasta in a pan with parmesan cheese and garlic butter sauce.

Tips & Recipe Variations

Pretty simple, right? I only have a few more tips and tricks to share with you before you get started on the pasta:

Cut the asparagus. If you snap the asparagus, you’ll lose more of the stalk than just the tough part that you’re trying to get rid of. Slicing the stalks allows you to be more precise when you cut them 2-3 inches from the top.
Use thin asparagus. The thinner the stalks are, the easier they are to eat with pasta. That being said, you can absolutely use thick asparagus if you prefer.
Add lemon juice. If you want some tangy, zesty flavor thrown in with this pasta, add some fresh lemon juice!

What Goes With Asparagus Pasta?

Like I mentioned above, this asparagus pasta recipe can be served with practically any main course! Here are some of my favorite pairings:

Chicken: Parmesan pasta is perfect on the side of a simple chicken dinner. Try it with something like this Easy Baked Chicken Breasts recipe!
Steak: Pasta with asparagus is also a great side dish for some juicy steak. Air Fryer Steak Bites and Mushrooms would be a good option!
Fish: Something like this Air Fryer Salmon would pair so well with cheesy asparagus pasta.
More Veggies: If you want to make this pasta side dish into a light meal, you could mix in some Easy Oven Roasted Vegetables with it.

Orzo and asparagus with grated parmesan cheese.

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

Should you have any leftover pasta, go ahead and save some for later – it makes a great lunch for school or work! Here’s how to do that:

To Store. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
To Reheat. The best way to reheat this pasta is in a skillet with a touch of oil over medium-low heat, because this will help the asparagus crisp up a little. If you’re not worried so much about the texture of the asparagus, though, you can just use the microwave.

More Easy Asparagus Recipes

Ready to try some more asparagus side dishes? These are some of my favorites!

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Garlic Butter Asparagus Pasta - Orzo Pasta and fresh Asparagus tossed in a garlic butter sauce and parmesan cheese. It's a 20-minute, garlicky and cheesy pasta dinner! Get the recipe on diethood.com

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4.92 from 23 votes