This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Asparagus canning recipes give you a way to hold onto that short spring season long after the spears stop pushing up in the garden. Asparagus only shows up for a few weeks here in Vermont, so being able to reach for a jar in the middle of winter feels like a small luxury when fresh asparagus is months away.
There are more ways to can asparagus than you’d think. You can can it plain as a simple vegetable side, pickle it into crisp spears, chop it into a relish, or turn it into a creamy soup for the pantry shelf. Each one takes a slightly different approach, so I’ve grouped them here by type to make it easier to find what you’re after.
A quick note on method before you start, because asparagus actually spans both canning camps. Plain asparagus and asparagus soups are low in acid, which means they have to be pressure canned for safe storage. Pickled asparagus and relish add vinegar to the mix, so those go through the water bath canner like any other pickle.
Canning Plain Asparagus
You can put up asparagus plain, packed in water as a basic vegetable. Because asparagus is low acid, this has to happen in a pressure canner, and there’s no water bath shortcut that makes it safe. The spears go into the jar either whole or cut into pieces, covered with boiling water, and processed under pressure.
Canned asparagus does come out softer than fresh, so it shines as a quick side dish, folded into omelets and quiches, or simmered into soups later in the year. I keep a few jars on the shelf for exactly those nights when I want a vegetable on the plate without much fuss, and they sit happily next to the rest of my canned vegetables.
Pickled Asparagus
If you’ve found plain canned asparagus a little too soft for your taste, pickling is the way to keep some snap. The salt and vinegar in the brine help the spears hold their texture, and a bit of pickle crisp helps too. The acidity means you can process them in a water bath canner instead of pulling out the pressure canner.
Pickled asparagus is lovely on a relish tray or cheese board, tucked into a Bloody Mary, or just eaten straight from the jar. You can keep the brine simple with garlic and dill, or add red pepper flakes for a little heat. (My family is split on the spicy jars, so I usually make a batch of each.) If you enjoy putting up spears like this, it fits right in with the rest of my pickling recipes.
- Pickled Asparagus (3 Ways)
- Pickled Asparagus with Garlic and Dill
- Spicy Pickled Asparagus (cayenne and red pepper for a real kick)
- Curried Pickled Asparagus (turmeric, coriander, and mustard seed)
- Lemon Tarragon Pickled Asparagus (bright and herby, with shallot)
- Pickled Chipotle Asparagus with Carrots (smoky, with carrots packed alongside)
Asparagus Relish
At this point, there aren’t any asparagus relish canning recipes on the internet. I’m testing one this spring, so stay tuned. I hope to have it posted shortly.
Asparagus Soups
Asparagus soup is a great way to use up a big flush of spears, and it’s one of the few asparagus preserves where the softer canned texture actually works in your favor, since everything gets pureed anyway. Like plain asparagus, soups are low acid, so they need to be pressure canned for safe storage.
I keep both a plain asparagus soup base and a heartier potato and leek version on the shelf. The base is meant to be pureed, heated, and finished with a splash of cream or milk when you serve it, while the potato leek version eats more like a full meal in a jar. Both are part of my collection of vegetarian soup canning recipes.
Vegetable Canning Recipes
Looking for more ways to fill your pantry shelf with the garden harvest?
