Yes, you should wash asparagus before grilling. You don’t know how many hands came in contact with that asparagus between harvest and it getting to your home. And you don’t know how clean any of those hands were. So, just like you should do with all your produce, wash asparagus before cooking it.

This recipe also calls for you to pat the asparagus dry before grilling. Any leftover water will actually cause the asparagus to steam rather than to brown. Steamed asparagus tastes fine, but it’s not what you’re going for when you are grilling asparagus.

You have three options to trim asparagus, and they all work just fine.

Snap off the asparagus ends:
Asparagus is really smart in that it will just snap at its natural break. So, just hold the asparagus in both hands, bend the asparagus, and the will snap off.

This method is a good compromise between convenience and food waste.

Cut the asparagus ends a knife:
If you want to trim the asparagus in bulk, lay the asparagus on a cutting board, lining up the ends.

Cut the asparagus straight across, about 1/3 up from the bottom, where the stalks turn from white to green.

This method results in the most food waste, but it’s the most convenient.

Peel, then cut the ends:
Peel the bottom section of the asparagus to make it an even thickness between the middle and bottom of the asparagus. Then, cut off the (now very small) white end, which should be about an inch thick.

This method is the most labor intensive (and we don’t recommend it for that reason), but it results in the least amount of food waste.

Asparagus is done when it is fork tender. Asparagus shouldn’t be sort or mushy. Rather, asparagus should have bite and a slight crunch when you chew it. But it shouldn’t be hard.

Grilled asparagus will turn a little brown in color as it grills, but it should still be a dark green when served.

We grill asparagus on foil because it’s so much easier for clean up. You just ball up the foil and throw it away.

You can grill the asparagus directly on the grill. Just make sure the grates are clean when you set the asparagus on the grill. And be sure to clean the grates after. If you do plan on grilling asparagus directly on the grill, set the asparagus perpendicular to the grates so that the asparagus doesn’t fall through.

If you think foil is wasteful, but you don’t want to deal with cleaning the grates, you can grill asparagus in a grill basket. The ones that are 11×11 are perfect to hold the asparagus after you’ve trimmed it.

You can make grilled asparagus on either a charcoal or propane grill. It comes out great, and the method is the same, regardless of what type of grill you use.

It’s a little easier to cook on a propane grill because you regulate the heat and it has a simple on off switch. A charcoal grill takes longer to heat up, doesn’t hold a constant temperature as well, and requires more care after you use it.

But both grills make great grilled asparagus.

If you anticipate having leftover grilled asparagus, save that piece of foil you grilled the asparagus on. Then, just roll your leftovers in the foil and store them in the fridge for three to four days.

If you threw out that piece of foil, no worries. You can store the asparagus in an air tight container in the fridge for the same amount of time.

Reheat grilled asparagus in the oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes until it is warmed through. Be careful to not reheat the asparagus for too long. You don’t want to risk overcooking it and making it mushy (and kind of inedible).

This Grilled Asparagus recipe is vegan as written.

If you want to pair this with another vegan grilling recipe, check out our Chickpea And Spinach Vegan Burger.

Yes, this Grilled Asparagus recipe is keto-friendly. According to the calculator we use, this is only 1 gram of carbs per serving.

Asparagus is one of Weight Watchers ZeroPoint Foods. Seasoning is also zero points. So the only points are from the tablespoon of olive oil. You only need the oil so the asparagus doesn’t stick to the foil. If you had an oil sprayer, you could use that and use less oil.

But, if you make this Grilled Asparagus recipe as written, it’s 4 points for the oil. If you split this into four servings, it’s only 1 Weight Watchers Freestyle Point per serving, which is great. That’s on the Freestyle Program. If you’re following myWW Blue, Green, or Purple, you’ll want to double check the points on your WW app or calculator.

For more WW grilling recipes, check out our 15+ Weight Watchers Grilling Recipes list.