Instant Pot Asparagus

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Perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned, instant pot asparagus is one of the easiest veggies to cook in your electric pressure cooker.

Let me walk you through asparagus in the instant pot with step by step photos and instructions and then you can pair it with meat or fish for dinner tonight.

This is an updated post. We originally shared with you all about cooking asparagus in the instant pot back in 2018. This is the updated post with extra photos and more helpful tips.

Asparagus In Instant Pot

I am a huge fan of veggies and love to steam them in the instant pot. I have done instant pot broccoli, instant pot cauliflower, instant pot carrots, instant pot cabbage and many more.

I don’t really have a favourite veggie. I just love them all (well apart from mushrooms – hate those) but what I do have is veggies that I prefer because they are easier and faster to cook.

Asparagus is one of those veggies. Unlike a root vegetable like swede, asparagus is very quick cooking and works well with a lot of different meals.

But of course, asparagus can be expensive, which is why I like to buy asparagus when its either on a deal, or in season.

Then cook the asparagus in the instant pot, season it and then tuck in. Bonus points if it includes butter or melted cheese.

Today I wanted to share with you my quick instant pot steamed asparagus. Perfect for busy mealtimes when you want quickly prepped veggies and don’t want to spend ages peeling carrots or shredding cabbage.

Are You New To The Instant Pot?

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What Is The Best Way To Cook & Eat Asparagus?

In my opinion, the best way to cook and eat asparagus is using the air fryer. You load it up and season it and you have the best crispiest asparagus ever.

But the fastest way to cook asparagus that still keeps a delicious flavour is to pressure cook asparagus in the instant pot pressure cooker, which we are showing you how to do today.

Can You Steam Asparagus In The Instant Pot?

Yes, you can steam asparagus in the instant pot and its so ridiously easy. You will wonder why you didn’t do it years ago.

I have more than 300+ instant pot recipes that I have created for you, yet the food type I cook the most in the instant pot is steamed veggies, including asparagus.

Also, if you want crispy asparagus, you can finish off with the air fryer lid.

How Much Water Do I Put In My Asparagus Steamer?

For cooking asparagus in your instant pot steamer, you use just 1 cup, which is the equivalent of 240ml.

However, if you are doing microwave asparagus, then you just need 1tbsp of water into the bottom of your microwave steamer basket.

When Is Asparagus Ready?

Asparagus is ready when it is fork tender. I recommend that you have your fork ready for when you have released the pressure, then do a quick fork test on the thickest part.

Just like I have done here when I first made asparagus in the instant pot back in 2018:

How Do You Flavour Steamed Asparagus?

You can flavour steamed asparagus by keeping it simple with salt and pepper. Or you can make it fun and make it fit in with what else you are having.

For example, if eating fish you can add some sage to your asparagus, or if you are having it with chicken, how about some tarragon.

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Asparagus Instapot Ingredients

Asparagus – You will need one pack of asparagus, though you could do two packs at once if you prefer.

Water – You will need 1 cup of water to bring the instant pot to pressure.

Butter – This is optional but OMG asparagus with melted butter over it, is amazing.

Seasoning – You can keep it simple with salt and pepper, or add your own favourite seasoning such as tarragon, mixed herbs, basil etc.

Optional – Another favourite optional extra is to sprinkle with parmesan cheese once cooked. Along with butter, it takes asparagus from typical veggie to something with the wow factor.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this asparagus instant pot recipe it has just been our Instant Pot. We have this one and it’s my favourite and great for a lot of steamed veggies.

I also recommend that you get an expandable steamer basket like this one we have. It’s fantastic for steaming veggies as well as for potatoes for mash, fish and so many others.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our instant pot recipes category as we have many electric pressure cooker recipes and have been using instant pots for 5 years.

How To Cook Asparagus In Instant Pot?

• Load. Place a cup of water into your instant pot and then add in your steamer basket. Add seasoned asparagus.
• Cook. Place the lid on the instant pot, set the valve to sealing and cook for 2 minutes.
• Finish. Then serve with a little butter and a little parmesan or go plain with just salt and pepper.

And I am sure you can see now how simple and easy it is to cook asparagus in instant pot.

How Long To Steam Asparagus In Instant Pot?

For perfect pressure cooker asparagus, I would recommend a cook time of JUST 2 minutes, which is a lot less compared to other cook methods.

The asparagus instapot time doesn’t include time to go to pressure and you can speed this up with using warm tap water instead of cold water when you add the water.

What Can You Eat With Asparagus?

Asparagus is perfect for pairing with protein for a healthy lunch or dinner. My favourites include eating instant pot asparagus with an air fryer whole chicken, air fryer frozen salmon, or an air fryer burger in a bowl.

Plus, because these are air fryer recipes, you can cook your mains in the air fryer, whilst steaming asparagus in the instant pot.

Steamed Asparagus Tips & Tricks

• Cut the end off the asparagus whilst the asparagus is still bunched together. It will make the process much faster.

• Add a little butter and parmesan cheese just after cooking. The heat from the asparagus will naturally melt it for you.

• Season first and season last. Pressure cookers can reduce the flavour to food, and this makes the asparagus taste even better.

• You can keep the same time and temp for cooking asparagus from frozen as you would from fresh.

More Instant Pot Vegetables

• Instant Pot Broccoli
• Instant Pot Cauliflower
• Instant Pot Cabbage
• Instant Pot Green Beans
• Instant Pot Carrots
• Instant Pot Parsnips
• Instant Pot Rutabaga

Your instant pot steamed asparagus recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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