Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms can be an excellent paired with red wine, making it a great side dish for steak and other meat. Read on for more details on how to make asparagus pair with red wine, and get our recipe for roasted asparagus. 
Can red wine pair with asparagus?
Asparagus is a notoriously difficult vegetable to pair with wine. When you do manage to pull off a wine pairing for asparagus, it’s usually a white wine. But for the April Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) event, hosted by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm, I managed to pair red wine with asparagus.
There are a few tricks that make this pairing work. First, I roast the asparagus, which changes the character of the veggie as it gets caramelized.
The asparagus gets roasted with mushrooms, which enhances the earthy aspect of the dish, which gives you a nice element that can bridge to the wine.
I also sprinkled a bit of wine-friendly Parmesan cheese on top. This preparation of the asparagus tees it up to work with a red wine, though there are some factors in picking the wine pairing I’ll get to in a moment.
After coming up with this recipe back in 2015, I regularly roast asparagus when I want to serve it along with a red wine. For a version without the mushrooms, check out our Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan recipe. You can also use the roasted asparagus in a main course, as in our Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms Pasta recipe.
You can also check out this “how to pair wine with asparagus” article for more insight on the topic.
Tips for making this recipe
This roasted asparagus with mushrooms is easy to put together. Here are some tips for making it, click here to jump down to the recipe for the full details.
- Snap a few asparagus stalks in half to see where the woody stalk to discard ends and the good part begins, then chop the rest of the bunch to match.
- Toss with mushrooms, olive oil and dried herbs, and roast.
- The cooking time will very based on thickness of the asparagus. I like it thinner, but the bunches available when I was making this were on the thicker side, so roasting 18 minutes at 425 worked well.
- More recently, I was making something that need to roast at 400 degrees. At the lower temperature, the asparagus took closer to 25 minutes to roast.
The wine pairing geek in me cringes when a restaurant serves up a steak with regular old steamed asparagus. The steak wants a big red wine, but that preparation of asparagus is going to make that a funky pairing. But my roasted asparagus and mushrooms works with red wine, so I served up with a steak. Now that’s a pairing! Time to get to the wine details…
Wine Pairing for Roasted Asparagus
I originally paired the roasted asparagus with a red wine blend, described below.
For our latest making of this recipe, we were serving the roasted asparagus and mushrooms with a simple roasted NY Strip Steak.
A simple, straight forward Cabernet Sauvignon seemed like a good option (see photo above). We opened the Alhambra Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva from Finca Abril in Argentina’s Valle de Uco ($12). This is a good Cab for the price; fruit forward with moderate, well structured tannins. A good pairing for the steak as well as the roasted asparagus.
Yes, this roasted asparagus with mushrooms is red wine friendly, but you still need to pick a wine that isn’t particularly tannic.
Given that I also had steak on the plate the first time I made the recipe, I wanted something at least medium bodied, but soft on the tannins.
I chose the 2009 Amphora Kylix red blend from Dry Creek in Sonoma County. It’s comprised of 50% Cabernet Franc, 40% Malbec, 10% Petite Sirah. I’d previously enjoy several Zinfandels from Amphora, such as the one I served up with this rigatoni and sausage dish.
I get lavender on the nose of this wine, eucalyptus and berry taste. Nice velvety mouthfeel. The wine tasted sweeter and fruitier after a bite of the the roasted asparagus. It definitely worked when I first sampled the wine with just the veggies.
As you might suspect, the pairing was even better when I served it with dinner. Steak along with this roasted asparagus was definitely a great pairing with the Kylix!
Now having enjoyed zinfandels and this blend from Amphora, I would definitely encourage you to try their wines!
Update: The Kylix blend doesn’t appear to be among the winery’s current releases, but there other wines are worth checking out. Also the description of the blend might suggest some other wines to try.
Recipe card
Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms
Roasting asparagus along with mushrooms gives it an earthy quality. Makes for a good side dish with steak, and a friendlier pairing for red wine than steamed asparagus.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: roasting
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon dried tarragon (see notes)
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Prep the asparagus: remove the coarse woody stock, typically about the bottom half of the asparagus spear. Chop the remaining tip portions into 2 inch pieces. Add to a roasting pan.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan, then toss the mushrooms and asparagus with the olive oil.
- Add garlic powder, tarragon, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Roast the vegetables: Place the asparagus into the oven. Roast until the asparagus is tender and starting to brown. This will take 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how thick your asparagus is. At least 20 minutes is likely needed unless the asparagus is quite thin.
- Remove pan from oven, sprinkle with the optional cheese. Serve along with a steak or other protein, and a glass of red wine!
Notes
- ½ teaspoon of tarragon does add a good amount of tarragon flavor. I like that, but if you aren’t big tarragon fans I’d say scale back to ¼ tsp.
- We have recently made this when cooking something else at 400 degrees. Simply increase the roasting time to 20 to 25 minutes.
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan recipe by Curious Cuisiniere
Spring-Kissed Seafood Chowder with Pelerin 2011 Les Tournesols by Cooking Adventures with Camilla
Wine and Dine: Las Lilas Vinho Verde 2013 and Chilled Cucumber with Mint Soup by Grape Experiences.
Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Spring Peas and Westrey Pinot Noir by Pull That Cork
Red Wine with Asparagus and Mushrooms by Cooking Chat
Spring Hopes: Asparagus and Rosé by Food Wine Click
Leap into Spring with Pasta Primavera by Vino Travels
Spring Fling with Greek Pizza and Wine by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Spring Flavors with Hungarian Pinot Grigio by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Welcoming Spring with #WinePW by Rockin Red Blog
Winter’s Hill Pinot Blanc and Warm Arugula, Bacon and Asparagus Salad by Tasting Pour
Roasted Halibut with Potatoes and Lemon and a Tablas Creek Cotes de Tablas by Enofylz Wine Blog
Beets and Wine Pairing by Girls Gotta Drink
Jennifer Martin (Vino Travels)
I like how you made a typical white wine dish with the asparagus into a red wine by the method of cooking. Nice approach!
Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm
Roasting asparagus is my preferred cooking method in the cool weather and grilling it is preferred in the hot weather.
Cooking Chat
Grilling sounds good! Looking forward to breaking mine out.
Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere
We’ve roasted asparagus, but never mushrooms. This looks like a fantastic dish and pairing!
Jade Helm DWS CSW
This a a great idea and brave choice. I will definitely be throwing some mushrooms in next time I roast asparagus. This would also be good over homemade pasta, maybe with some bacon tossed in. Yum.
Cooking Chat
Ooh, tossing in some bacon sounds great!
Camilla @ Culinary Adventures
This is a GREAT recipe…and I love that you served it with a red wine.
Michelle Williams
Very nice pairing David. I enjoyed the way you prepared the asparagus and mushroom and the wine sounds very good. I am not familiar with the winery, thank you for the introduction.
Cooking Chat
Thanks Michelle! It’s a winery worth checking out if you can.
sue|theviewfromgreatisland
This is so simple and elegant, I think i just found our dinner tonight!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Sue, hope you enjoy it!
Martin Redmond
Great pairing David…and a great idea to “convert” asparagus from a white wine compatible to red wine compatible by roasting, and adding the mushrooms and parm! Your blend sound like one I’d like. I’m a big fan of Cab Franc which as you know can add some earthy and “green” notes to a wine. Bravo!
Nancy | Pull That Cork
Great idea to roast mushrooms along with the asparagus. I’m going to try your recipe tomorrow night along with grilled grass-fed trip-tip and roasted yukon gold potatoes. I always learn so much from the #winePW posts!
Cooking Chat
Wow, that sounds like a great meal idea, Nancy!
Liz
Ooh, your asparagus looks magnificent! And thanks for explaining the thought process for this wine pairing.
Cooking Chat
It’s fun thinking through these pairings!
Christy @ Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Love your preparation of the Asparagus, and couldn’t agree more about restaurant preparation not fitting the wine/steak. I’ve not tried Amphora in a few years, maybe time to give another try.
Cooking Chat
Thanks Christy!
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes
When I read the title of this post I was incredulous, but you’ve convinced me that it works. And now I too am thinking about the restaurants that pair the steamed asparagus with the steaks and wishing they read this post too, ha ha. This red sounds like my cuppa since I love Cab Franc and Petite Sirah. I’ll have to keep my eye out for it.
Cooking Chat
Steamed asparagus with steak just doesn’t make sense to me! But roasting and adding some cheese can definitely tie it in nicely with red wine.
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass
Great dish and pairing David. Love the combo of asparagus and mushrooms, perfect with steak!
Cooking Chat
yes, very nice along with a good piece of beef!
Catherine
Dear David, this is a perfect side. I love the bit of tarragon…what an elegant dish. Take care, Catherine
Cooking Chat
thanks Catherine, I don’t use tarragon as much as some other herbs but it is a nice touch.
K B
I have had this recipe saved for quite awhile. I finally tried it tonight. I really enjoyed it. Definitely going to become a regular side dish for steaks going forward. I had it with a red blend. I actually think in this case the recipe made the wine better. Thanks David
Cooking Chat
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback.
Kelly Anthony
I love a good wine pairing especially when it looks this good. This red wine with asparagus will be perfect for entertaining friends and family.
Marie-Charlotte Chatelain
Oh yum – the classic steak house sides perfectly executed! My kind of recipe! And a glass of red, please! Cloud 9!
Kushigalu
Love the combination of ingredients in this recipe. Would love to try this soon
Veena Azmanov
Lovely combination to this dish and grilling making it perfect. Goes well with the wine too.
Cooking Chat
Thanks Veena!
Sonia
Oh my! This looks and sounds so delicious! Move the combination of asparagus , mushrooms and wine!