This asparagus salad recipe is a delicious spring or summer side dish! This refreshing salad features crisp veggies, feta, and a creamy avocado dressing.
This asparagus salad recipe is a perfect spring or summer side dish. It combines all my favorite seasonal produce—asparagus, crisp radishes, sweet peas, and fresh herbs. Tossed with lemon, olive oil, and creamy avocado dressing, it’s bright, refreshing, and delicious.
Every year, I make this asparagus salad recipe to celebrate the arrival of spring. After a long Chicago winter, nothing says sunnier, warmer days are ahead like this vibrant salad.
Enjoy it as a side dish with practically any dinner, or prep it ahead for lunch. Easy to toss together in under 30 minutes, this recipe is a staple for me during asparagus season. I hope you love it too!
Asparagus Salad Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this delicious asparagus salad recipe:
- Asparagus, of course! Look for 2 bunches with thin, snappy spears.
- Peas – To keep things simple, I use thawed frozen peas, but you could blanch fresh shell peas if you like.
- Garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt – I lightly dress the asparagus and peas in this mixture before I assemble the salad. It gives them a nice bright flavor.
- Radishes – For color and crunch.
- Avocado dressing – This rich, lemony dressing gives the salad a lightly creamy coating. If you want to get ahead, you can make the dressing up to a day in advance.
- Feta cheese – I love its tangy, salty flavor with the fresh spring veggies here, but if you’re vegan, feel free to skip it. Add a few pickled radishes or pickled red onions to the salad instead.
- Pine nuts – For rich, nutty flavor and extra crunch. Chopped toasted walnuts or almonds would be great here too.
- And fresh mint or basil – To take it all over the top.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make This Asparagus Salad
This asparagus salad recipe comes together in 3 easy steps:
1. Prep the asparagus. Though you can eat raw asparagus, I actually love to use blanched asparagus in salads. Cooking the asparagus lightly brings out its natural sweetness and gives it a vibrant green color and crisp-tender texture.
Before cooking, trim off the tough, woody ends of the asparagus spears. Then, cut the stalks into 1-inch pieces.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus for 1 minute and then transfer it to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the asparagus and pat it dry.
2. Next, season the veggies. At the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the asparagus and peas and toss to coat.
3. Finally, assemble! Transfer the asparagus and peas to a serving platter, and drizzle them with the avocado dressing. Sprinkle on the radish slices, pine nuts, feta, and herbs, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
That’s it!
Asparagus Salad Serving Suggestions
This asparagus salad recipe is one of my favorite spring and summer side dishes! Fresh, bright, and easy to make, it pairs well with all kinds of main dishes. Try it with any simply cooked protein or one of these dinner recipes:
It also packs up nicely for a picnic (just add the herbs at the last minute!). I love it with an Egg Salad Sandwich.
If you’re in the mood for a lighter meal, enjoy this asparagus salad on its own. I often eat it for lunch with soft-boiled eggs or a handful of crispy roasted chickpeas tossed in for extra protein.
More Favorite Spring Salads
If you love this asparagus salad recipe, try one of these fresh spring salads next:
- Bright Spring Salad
- Cucumber Salad
- Simple Green Salad
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic
- Best Broccoli Salad
- Or any of these 51 Best Salad Recipes!
Asparagus Salad
Ingredients
- 2 bunches asparagus, tender parts, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- Avocado Dressing
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 3 radishes, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- Fresh mint or basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water nearby. Drop the asparagus into the boiling water and blanch for about 1 minute, until tender but still bright green. Transfer to the ice water for 1 minute, then drain. Transfer the asparagus to a kitchen towel to dry and wipe out the bowl.
- At the bottom of the bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the asparagus and peas and toss until coated. Transfer to a platter, drizzle with some of the avocado dressing, top with feta, radishes, pine nuts, and mint or basil.
I did this a little different and it was out of this world. Fresh asperagus, diced small. Red onion, diced small. Parmesano Regiano cut from a block of cheese diced small. Salt (generous) Pepper and Red Wine Vinegar. NOTHING ELSE Optional: Add a little olive oil only if you must but it honestly does not need it. Mix all together and serve. Guests could not stop eating, it’s so crunchy and delicious. Must Try to appreciate…
Your recipe says avocado dressing, but there is no avocado listed in the ingredients!
Hi Melany, if you click on the dressing link, it’ll take you to this Avocado Dressing: https://fit-discovery.info/avocado-dressing/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Can I sub edamame for peas?
yep!
The salad is very tasty. It looked a bit slimy with the dressing on it. The photos here has to be without dressing.
Hi Sharon, so glad you enjoyed the salad! We have the dressing drizzled on in the photos, not tossed.
Can this be made ahead of time and served the next day?
Also, it would be helpful if you could quantify the amount of asparagus more specifically, e.g. 1 pound or 2 cups, chopped. It is difficult to estimate what a “bunch” is.