Healthy baked asparagus fries are a taste of spring in every bite. Served with a tangy lemon dijon dipping sauce and made both gluten-free and vegan. Air-fryer method included below!

Is it weird to be in love with a vegetable that makes your pee smell horrifically bad? Is it weird to talk about urine on a food blog?

Probably and yes, right?

Too bad.

Asparagus is one of my all time favorite vegetables and my absolute favorite one to roast.

Around this time of year when it’s almost in season, I go kind of nuts and it ends up on our dinner plates at least twice a week.

It’s one of the few vegetables that I can distinctly taste a difference in (and not in a good way) when I buy it out of season, so I make sure to take full advantage of it for the couple of months it’s good.

If you’ve read the book Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, (which is a collection of short stories) there’s a chapter about a woman named Phoebe who eats asparagus every day for two months in an attempt to become an “asparagus superhero”.

I sort of feel like Phoebe every March through May. A superhero cape would be way cooler than an apron in the kitchen.

Asparagus is the perfect vegetable to turn into a fry by baking.

In fact, these asparagus fries came out better than most of my attempts with potatoes. You know, the vegetable that fries are actually made from.

Unless using this crispy baked fries recipe, I just haven’t had great luck.

Ingredients for Healthy Asparagus Fries

• asparagus – be sure to trim off the woody ends
• aquafaba – we’ll get into this vegan ingredient more below. I also use it for these air fryer green bean fries.
• lemon juice
• breadcrumbs (gluten-free if needed)
• lemon zest
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper

LEMON DIJON DIPPING SAUCE

• plain unsweetened coconut yogurt (or swap Greek yogurt if not vegan)
• extra virgin olive oil
• lemon juice
• dijon mustard
• salt & pepper

How to Make Oven Baked Asparagus Fries

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Use the convection roast setting if your oven is equipped with it.

Whisk together the aquafaba and lemon juice in a shallow dish or bowl large enough to fit the the asparagus spears.

In a separate shallow dish, combine the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.

Dip each asparagus spear in the aquafaba mixture to coat then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture shaking off any excess and place on a large heavy duty baking sheet.

Bake until the breadcrumbs have turned golden brown, about 8-10 minutes (longer if the asparagus are thicker).

While the asparagus fries bake, combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and mix together.

Serve the fries hot out of the oven with the sauce.

Can I Make These in the Air Fryer?

Absolutely. In fact, if your oven doesn’t have a convection setting but you do have an air fryer, I’d suggest it.

Air fryers are just mini convection ovens (see what is an air fryer post for the full details) anyway and that’s why if your oven has a convection roast setting you’ll get just as crispy asparagus fries as if you used an air fryer.

To make these in the air fryer, prepare the asparagus spears the same way then place in either the air fryer basket or on the trays depending on the type of air fryer you have.

Air fry at 400°F for the same amount of time (8-10 minutes for thin asparagus) until the breadcrumbs are nice and golden.

Either cooking method, whether you oven bake the asparagus or air fry it, will result in super crispy asparagus fries!

What is Aquafaba?

Aquafaba is such a neat vegan ingredient and this was actually one of the first times I experimented with it. It’s known as a vegan egg replacement and often what you’ll see things like vegan meringue made of.

Most breaded vegetables typically require an egg bath before dredging in flour or breadcrumbs in order to get the breading to stick. Unless you’re making this air fryer okra which doesn’t despite it’s “breaded” appearance.

Aquafaba is used in place of the whisked egg to make recipes like these asparagus fries vegan.

All you need to do is open a can of chickpeas and save the liquid that you normally would drain out. That liquid is aquafaba!

And now that you have an open can of chickpeas, you can roast them, make chocolate chip chickpea blondies or go savory with Kung Pao chickpeas for a takeout type dinner.

Are These Gluten Free?

Yes! They are naturally gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free brand of breadcrumbs.

I usually make my own gluten-free breadcrumbs by toasting gluten-free bread until *almost* burnt, letting it cool completely then processing in a food processor until breadcrumb consistency.

I prefer to make my own so I can control the quality of the breadcrumbs as well avoid any seasonings which are often added to store-bought breadcrumbs.

This recipe for vegan zucchini fries also uses homemade gluten-free breadcrumbs.

Can I Use Canned or Frozen Asparagus?

To keep these fries crispy, I recommend only using fresh asparagus. Especially in the springtime because that’s when it’s the freshest.

Tips for Making the Best Asparagus Fries

• Be sure to choose good produce, I talk all about that in this guide to asparagus.
• You can make a double batch of the dipping sauce, it’s great for all vegetable chip and fry recipes. Try it with these air fried zucchini chips!
• Asparagus fries are best when eaten straight from the oven. You can store them in the fridge for two or three days. Reheat in the oven again or toss them in the air fryer for a few minutes.

More Asparagus Recipes You Will Enjoy:

• shaved asparagus tomato salad,
• asparagus omelette souffle,
• lemon roasted asparagus 
• bacon asparagus fried couscous

Need more ideas? Don’t miss this comprehensive guide on how to cook asparagus for lots more inspiration.

 *This post was originally published February 2012. Photographs, content and recipe have been updated as of March 2022.