This is the best crisp pickled asparagus recipe out there, and the first thing to meet my canning jars come springtime. Garlic and dill are paired with salty brine and flavor-packed seasonings that create perfectly crisp asparagus spears every time! There’s a good reason this is one of my most requested recipes.
Asparagus might be my favorite pickling vegetable… except for the beans that get turned into dilly beans and the beets for pickled beets, oh, and the cucumbers for fermented dill pickles or canned garlic dill pickles or bread and butter pickles. Okay, I can’t pick a favorite, because really, they should all have their place inside a Mason jar and lining my cupboard shelves.
Oh, wait! I almost forgot Great Grandma’s mustard pickles! Whew, that was close!
As you can see, I’m a lover of all things pickled!
My favorite way to eat pickled asparagus is as an appetizer. It’s the way to go. Served all by itself, rolled up in ham with a smear of cream cheese, or served side by side on a cheese platter or charcuterie board… crispy pickled asparagus is amazing. It also goes great with Bloody Mary cocktails or mocktails!
If you’re brand new to canning, you may want to check out a few of my resources before getting started. Canning 101 is great for those just getting started, as is this article about whether canning food at home is really worth it. And once you’re done canning your pickled asparagus, be sure to check out my food preservation category for your next project.
Wondering What Pickled Asparagus Tastes Like?
Well, it’s different than eating fresh roasted asparagus or bacon wrapped asparagus. It’s a bit like a pickle but with the subtle undertones of the asparagus flavor shining through like a champ. If you follow my recipe, they’ll be crispy and briny. During canning, the asparagus soaks up all the amazing flavors of the vinegar, salt, garlic, and dill, leaving you with a tart, slightly sour taste.
Feel free to toss some chili flakes in each jar for a little heat (if that’s your thing!). As long as you have the proper vinegar-to-salt ratio, you can’t really mess up the rest of the spices, so experiment to find your perfect combination of pickling spices.
Can You Make Pickled Asparagus In the Refrigerator?
Yes! Even though the recipe below is meant for canning, you can make these in the refrigerator. The only difference is they won’t be shelf-stable and they’ll take a little longer until you get that really great pickle flavor.
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If you just want to make a small batch (and have a bit of patience), then the refrigerator method is just fine. And if you love refrigerator methods of pickling, you might also love these bread and butter refrigerator pickles!
To make refrigerator pickled asparagus:
- Mix together the vinegar, salt, and spices.
- Wash the asparagus and trim the bottoms to fit the size of your jar (I like pint jars, but quart jars work well for larger stalks).
- Add garlic cloves and dill sprigs to the bottom of your jar and fill with asparagus. Try to line the stalks up nice and tall, like little soldiers, and really pack them in tight!
- Pour the room-temperature pickling liquid over the top to fill the jar.
- Place in the refrigerator for 3-7 days. Technically, after 24 hours you now have asparagus pickles, but the longer you let them “pickle” the stronger their flavor.
What’s the Difference Between a Refrigerator Pickle and a “Quick Pickle”?
There’s not too much of a difference between the two, however, a quick pickle is made by first boiling your brine, then pouring the hot brine over your asparagus. This “cooks” the asparagus just a bit, making it softer and quicker to absorb the brine.
Quick Pickled Asparagus
To make quick-pickled asparagus:
- Mix together the vinegar, salt, and spices in a pot to create your brine.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Prepare your asparagus by washing and trimming the bottoms to fit the size of your jar.
- Add garlic cloves and dill to the bottom of your jar and fill with asparagus. Try to line the trimmed asparagus up nice and tall, like little soldiers, and really pack them in tight!
- Pour the hot brine over the top to fill the jar.
- Seal with a lid and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours. The asparagus will continue to get more “pickle-y” after 3-5 days.
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Pickled Asparagus – Healthy or Not?
If you’re asking yourself whether pickled asparagus is healthy or not, the answer is kind of!
Really helpful, right?
Asparagus itself is very healthy. It’s full of fiber and a great source of Vitamin B6, Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc. Did you know asparagus also has probiotics? This makes it a great addition to meals for aiding digestion.
When you pickle the asparagus you have to consider that you’re adding quite a bit of salt and some sugar into the picture. And if you’re canning it, the asparagus will lose some of its nutrients and probiotics because it’s heated.
But if you’re comparing the health of pickled asparagus to say a cookie, then it’s a much healthier option.
How to Get Crispy Pickled Asparagus Every Time
For crispy pickled asparagus, you need to start with fresh asparagus. To make sure the asparagus is fresh, try to snap it in half. It should break clean without any strings. Stringy or limp asparagus is a sign that it’s not fresh.
I prefer medium or larger stalks of asparagus, this also lends itself to a crispy finish. Just be sure your jars are large enough to hold the size you want.
There is no need to sterilize your jars when canning this recipe. Updated canning testing states if you’re processing your recipe for 10 minutes or more, there’s no need to sterilize your jars. Simply wash them in hot soapy water.
Does asparagus need to be blanched before pickling?
No, unless you have an aversion to crispy pickles. There’s no need to blanch your asparagus prior to pickling when canning it.
See, told you this pickled asparagus recipe was easy peasy. Click here for more tips on how to tell if a canning recipe is safe.
How long will pickled asparagus last?
Canned pickled asparagus will last for 18 months on the shelf. Once opened, it will last for weeks in the fridge, provided the spears stay beneath the liquid.
How long before pickled asparagus is ready to eat?
Allow pickled asparagus to sit on the shelf (after processing) for at least 5 days to let the flavor develop.
Grab your water bath canner and follow the instructions below for proper canning!
Pickled Asparagus Recipe
Supplies Needed
- Canning Jars – Wide-mouth canning jars work best for this recipe. I recommend using quart jars as they tend to fit the length of asparagus better. I’ve been loving the canning jars from Azure Standard.
- Canning Lids & Bands – You’ll want two-part canning lids for this recipe. You can get bulk canning jars from ForJars (use code “Modern10” to get 10% off) or Delali Canning Lids (use code “SPENDNSAVE” to get 15% off orders of $75 or more).
Ingredients Needed
- Asparagus – To make six quarts you’ll want about 30 spears per quart (180 spears total).
- Water – Clean, filtered water is best.
- Vinegar – I recommend organic vinegar to ensure it’s non-GMO and always use 5% acidity when canning/pickling. You can use white or apple cider vinegar. White just helps keep the green color of the pickled asparagus spears.
- Salt – Pickling salt (also known as canning salt) ensures a brine that’s not cloudy. If you don’t mind a little cloudiness, you can use sea salt or kosher salt.
- Sugar – Sugar may seem strange in a pickling brine, but really it just helps balance out the acidity of the vinegar. This recipe is not sweet like a sweet pickle or sweet and sour pickle recipe.
- Celery Seed – This adds great flavor to the pickled asparagus.
- Mustard Seed – The mustard seed will add a nice flavor and a slightly yellow color to the pickling brine.
- Dill – You can use dill weed, dill seeds or fresh dill heads in this recipe.
- Garlic – Don’t skip the garlic! It adds great flavor, and the garlic gets pickled right along with the asparagus spears. They’re so delicious!
Step-by-Step Directions
- Wash jars in hot water soapy water. Wide-mouth jars work best.
- Put 3 cloves of garlic, 2 teaspoons mustard seed and 2 teaspoons dill in the bottom of each jar.
- Rinse asparagus in cold water. Measure and chop off woody ends so that the asparagus spear fills jars with 1/2 inch head space. Pack tightly.
- Set lids in a pan of water on medium heat until ready to seal jars.
- Put water, vinegar, sugar, salt and celery seed in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the liquid has boiled, fill each jar to the top of the spears, leaving 1/2 inch head space.
- Wipe rims, put on lids, and screw on bands to fingertip tight. Place jars in the canning rack or basket in a hot water bath of boiling water and process for 10 minutes.
- Carefully pull out hot jars and place them on a folded kitchen towel in a draft-free area. Allow jars to sit for at least 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, check to make sure the lids have sealed by pressing down on the center. If it pops or gives, your seal is bad. Put that jar in the refrigerator and enjoy immediately.
- Label and date your pickled asparagus and store in a cool, dark place.
Tips for the Best Pickled Asparagus
- You’ll want to start with approximately 180 spears of asparagus (depending on size), which equals about 30 spears per quart (or about 3 pounds of asparagus per quart) for a total of 6 quarts.
- Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus, and be sure the length fits your quart-sized jar nicely.
- You’ll need good, clean water and vinegar of choice. I prefer to choose organic vinegar, and always one that’s 5% acidity when canning and/or pickling. I love Azure Standard’s white vinegar because it’s non-GMO and has 11% acidity, which means I only need to use half the amount (the rest can be diluted with water). First-time Azure customers can get 15% off their first order of $100 or more with coupon code “Melissa15”.
- You can use white or apple cider vinegar, but homemade vinegar is unsafe for canning. Using white vinegar will yield nice bright green spears, while apple cider vinegar will make the asparagus appear duller in color.
- If you want a non-cloudy brine, be sure to use pickling salt. If you don’t mind brine that’s a bit cloudy, you can use regular or kosher salt. I love Redmond Real Salt (use that link and code “Pioneering” for 15% off your order).
- Don’t skip the sugar, it really helps balance out the flavors for this recipe. I use raw organic cane sugar.
- The seasonings are really preferential and can be adapted to suit your liking. I’ve found that the combination of celery seed, some mustard seed, dill, and garlic make a delicious end product.
- If you like your pickled asparagus with a little more kick, add some red pepper flakes and black peppercorns to each jar. Use approximately 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per quart.
How to Store Pickled Asparagus
Once you’ve canned your pickled asparagus, and the jars are sealed properly, you’ll want to make sure to allow your jars to cool overnight. Then, follow these methods for properly storing your canned goods to ensure you’re safely storing your food for the best long-term storage.
If a jar doesn’t seal correctly, don’t panic! Just seal the jar with the lid and place it in the refrigerator.
In my opinion, this is the best pickled asparagus recipe, and not just my opinion, I have people who try this and immediately ask for the recipe to replace their old one. The only proper thing to do is share this of course!
No matter where you are in your canning journey, be sure to bookmark these 129+ canning recipes and then go order my brand new book, Everything Worth Preserving, which is 400+ pages of preserving recipes and how to preserve everything from the garden in an easy to follow A-Z book.
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Best Pickled Asparagus- Easy Canning Recipe
Ingredients
- 180 spears of asparagus depending on size, about 30 per quart
- 6 1/2 cups water
- 8 1/2 cups vinegar preferably organic and always use 5% acidity when canning/pickling. You can use white or apple cider vinegar. White just helps keep the green color of the asparagus
- 6 Tablespoons pickling salt regular makes your brine cloudy
- 1 to 2 cups sugar I use raw organic cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
- 12 Teaspoons mustard seed
- 12 teaspoons Dill weed or 2 heads fresh dill tucked in with asparagus
- 18 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Wash jars in hot water soapy water. Wide mouth jars work best.
- Put 3 cloves of garlic, and 2 teaspoons mustard seed and dill in the bottom of each jar.
- Rinse asparagus in cold water. Measure and chop off ends so that heads fill jars with 1/2 inch head space. Pack tightly.
- Set lids in a pan of water on medium low heat until ready to seal jars.
- Put water, vinegar, sugar, salt and celery seed in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once liquid has boiled, fill each jar to the top of the spears, leaving 1/2 inch head space.
- Wipe rims, put on lids, and screw on bands. Place jars in canning rack or basket in a hot water bath of boiling water and process for 10 minutes.
- Carefully pull out hot jars and place on a folded kitchen towel in a draft free area. Let sit for at least 12 hours. Check to make sure the jars of pickled asparagus have sealed by pressing down on the center of the lid. If it pops or gives, your seal is bad. Put in fridge and eat.
- Store jars in a dark cool place.
Notes
- For spicy pickled asparagus: Add red pepper flakes to each jar with garlic. You can add approximately 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per quart.
- This makes approximately 6 quarts of pickled asparagus and the nutritional information is based on 4 servings per jar… provided you don’t eat the whole jar all by yourself in one sitting- because it’s that good!
- If your elevation is 1,001 – 6,00 feet above sea level or higher you need to increase processing time by 5 minute for a total of 15 minutes. If your elevation is 6,001 feet above sea level increase processing time by 10 minutes for 20 minutes total.
I have tried other recipes but yours is definitely the winner. It is absolutely delicious. It is so good I am going to buy more asparagus to do another batch. This is inspiring me to try your mustard pickles this year.
Is this recipe good at 4,715 foot of altitude?
Hi, Melissa:
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but am excited to. I just wanted to check about the water canning. We live at 4700 altitude so need to increase our time when canning. Normally, I need to add 10 minutes to the recipe time. I
know you live in Washington, but don’t know your altitude. For safety, should I increase my time?
Thank you
You would need to increase the processing time. Any altitude over 1,001 feet should increase for water bath recipes by 5 minutes for every additional 3,000 feet in altitude.
Is 2 cups sugar a typo? That seems like a lot.
Are your recipes tested for safety?
This recipe follows all updated testing and safety procedures, as do all of my canning and food preservation advice.
These pickled asparagus are absolutely delicious. I had never tried pickling them before, but this is a hit. Everyone who tastes them wants the recipe. I did tweak it a little, i used pickling spices out of the bulk section at a local grocery store, and i used one tbs less salt and 2 1/2 cups sugar instead of 2 cups. We had a sale of 68. a pound a couple of months ago so i decided to try it. Thank you for the recipe.
Wonderful recipe. Makes for a great charcuterie board addition.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can ground mustard be used or should it be actual mustard seeds? This will be my very first time pickling so I’m super new to all this & it’s all a bit overwhelming ? Thank you for your help!
I have the same question. Could I use dried dill and ground mustard? That’s all I have on hand.
Why so much sugar? Are they sweet?
Oh, Melissa! This sounds so yummy! Seems like it would work with most kinds of veggies. Sounds very similar to the recipe I used for yellow squash the year we were inundated with it ?
This is the best pickled Asparagus recipe ever!! I made it last year and got rave reviews from my family. My dad said it’s the best ever and my mom has made pickled asparagus for many years, but this recipe is tops!!
Are these pickles crunchy and what size asparagus did you use the thin or real fat ones?
These are crunchy, I find the fatter ones are crunchier when pickled
I printed out this recipe ages ago. I love asparagus and love anything pickled. Have you ever tried this recipe with radishes?
This is my first time picking anything and I have fresh fern leaf dill that I plan to use. Could you help me to understand a little better how many sprigs I should use per jar?
I am sure it is mentioned somewhere… what elevation is the timing for this recipe? I am over 5,000 ft elevation
Do I need to add time? (I believe if this recipe is for sea level, I need to add 10 minutes??)
Thank you!!! Super excited to try this out!!!
Melissa,
If you can’t come up with 180 spears of asparagus, do you have a formula for cutting this recipe down?
Do you have a good source for finding this much asparagus?
Can’t wait to try this but my asparagus patch only produces a handful at a time.
Love your recipes and teaching videos.
We usually get a 20 pound box from a local stand or local farmers, it’s about 3 pounds to quart size jar.
Melissa is that dried dill seed. Asparagus is ready here in WA state, but not sure about fresh dill or is it dill weed? Going to Yakima to get my fresh Asparagus today. Thank you. Virginia
You can use dried dill seed, I don’t have any dried dill weed left and will be doing some this weekend!
Hi Melissa,
Quick question: is it. possible to use sea salt instead of pickling salt?
It can cause cloudiness in the brine but as long as it’s straight salt without any anti-caking agent, yes.
Do you think I could make these (refrigerator version) without the sugar? More like a dill pickle? Thanks in advance.
Sure, when doing a refrigerator version you have a little more leeway in playing with the recipes and you could dilute the brine more with water (not for canning though). Let me know how you like them.
I want to use pint jars, how mush garlic, mustard seed and dill do I put in the jars
You’ll 1/2 everything for pint sized jars.
These look so good! Are they ready right away, or do they need to hang out in jars for weeks to get truly “pickled”? Thinking they’d be an interesting gift for Christmas. Thanks!
They taste better if they’re in the jar for at least a few weeks.
We get a lot of asparagus for our patch and I’m looking for a different recipe for pickling than the one I already have. I’d love to try yours, is there a way to do a much smaller batch?
You can divide the brine down to smaller batches based on how much asparagus you have 🙂
I’ve made these and added a jalapeno cut in half to the middle of the asparagus. Nice spicy and yummy pickles!
Can these be processed in a pressure canner?
Can these be processed in a pressure canner?
Hi Melissa….unfortunately my little asparagus patch will not be producing 180 spears o would it work to cut the recipe in half or 4ths?
thanks!
Yes, as long as you keep the ratios the same you can cut it in 1/2 or 1/4 to make just a few jars.
My husband doesn’t like garlic. Will there be any canning problem by omitting the garlic from the recipe? I know they won’t taste the same! Thanks, Melissa, for all the information you provide us!
It won’t pose a problem at all by omitting it with this recipe. Happy canning!
Can I sub green beans into this recipe?
Melissa; I ran out of brine after 5 quarts may want to bump up vinegar and water ratio. Thx Much
How long do they last? I’m looking at a jar I made either last summer or the summer before. It looks OK from the outside, but you never know. Has been stored in a cool dark place since processing. Thanks!
I just ate one of our jars from 2015. 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. This was my first time pickling asparagus and it turned out great awesome recipe. I also want to try this on ocra.
So glad you enjoyed it.
I’m so excited to try this recipe today! How long after making these do I have to wait before I can eat them?!
Hillary,
For the best flavor 6 to 8 weeks but you can totally open a jar and try it within a week.
HI
Is there a way for the asparagus to look greener and not cloudy after you pickle them?
Pickled vegetables are never as bright green as fresh but they shouldn’t look cloudy. If you didn’t use canning salt, they will turn cloudy if the salt had additives in it.
Looks delicious! Can the sugar be optional? I don’t eat sugar (and would prefer a more savory pickle than sweet) but don’t know if the sugar is required for proper preservation?
Sugar helps with the pucker factor, but doesn’t have anything to do with the preservation in this recipe. You could always try a bit of stevia if it’s too strong tasting of vinegar.
I am so excited to try this!! Had a bloody mary recently with a piece of pickled asparagus on it and it was divine!
One question – should the garlic be whole or chopped/minced? Didn’t see this specified in the recipe.
Thanks!
I do the garlic whole, it gets a little bit smashed when I smack it with the knife so the oils get into the brine. They’re pretty delicious to eat too. 🙂
I am obsessed with asparagus, but also pickling! I didn’t even think to pickle asparagus. I’ve mainly stuck with the most common routes like onions, cucumbers – I’ve also tried carrots! I usually always boil my asparagus or barbecue them, but there’s always the issue of them getting too soggy when cooking. Maybe pickling them is my perfect alternative! Thank you for your recipe and I can’t wait to try pickling one of my favorite vegetables.
You’ll love these, they’re excellent pickled!