Grilled Asparagus Salad with Tomatoes & Olives

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

You can grill the asparagus on an outdoor grill or on a stovetop grill pan. Grilling adds smoky flavor. It makes the asparagus tender while still keeping its crisp bite.

This salad delivers on texture and flavor. You have asparagus mixed with juicy tomatoes, salty olives, sharp red onions, toasted walnuts and parmesan. That variety all works so well together.

A salad with no leafy greens is a side dish and a salad in a single recipe. And there’s no risk of wilting. Enjoy this asparagus salad warm, at room temperature or cold. It gives you flexibility.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Asparagus: Look for asparagus spears that are straight and stiff. If they’re fresh, you should be able to snap them in half. Avoid asparagus that’s wrinkled, limp or soft. The tops should be tight and not open.
• Tomatoes: You can use either cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved. I like smaller tomatoes because they hold their shape when they are tossed into a salad. I find that cherry tomatoes are juicer than grape.
• Olives: The recipe calls for pitted kalamata olives. They give the salad bites that are briny and salty.
• Red onions: Make sure to finely chop the onions, so they mix in well with the other ingredients. If you prefer more mild onion taste, you can thinly slice scallions instead.
• Walnuts: It’s definitely worth toasting the nuts before you toss them in the salad. Put the chopped walnuts on a sheet pan and toast them for 5-7 minutes in a 350-degree F oven. This really brings out their flavor. You can substitute with pine nuts or chopped almonds or pecans.
• Parmesan: Either use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler to shave the Parmesan off the block. You can swap it with pecorino or feta cheese. If you are vegan, you can leave out the cheese or use a plant-based, dairy free substitute.
• Parsley: Chopped fresh herbs are nice finishing touch for the salad.
• Olive oil, salt and pepper: Besides the vinaigrette, you toss the asparagus spears in oil and season them before you grill them.
• Lemon vinaigrette: The dressing is made with minced garlic, whole grain mustard, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s best to use high quality extra virgin olive oil.

Optional Additions

If you want to add a protein to the salad to make it more of a complete meal on its own, here are some ideas:

• Chopped hard-boiled eggs
• Poached eggs
• Chicken
• Tuna
• Shrimp

How To Make This Grilled Asparagus Salad Recipe

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill or a stovetop grill pan over medium high heat. 

1. Toss the asparagus with oil, salt and pepper.

2. Grill the asparagus. Give it 5-7 minutes to turn bright green get grill marks. It should be crisp-tender.

3. Cut the asparagus spears into 1-1/2-inch-long pieces. You should allow it a couple minutes to cool off before you cut it.

4. Make the vinaigrette. Whisk together the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil in a small bowl.

5. Put the salad ingredients in a large bowl including the grilled asparagus, tomatoes, olives, red onions, walnuts, parmesan and parsley.

6. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss to combine.

Alternate Cooking Method: Roasting Asparagus

If you don’t have any type of grill whether that’s an outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan, you can roast the asparagus stalks on a sheet pan at 425 degrees F for 7 minutes. Then cut them into pieces.

Serving

As mentioned, you can approach this salad as a side dish too. It works well with spring and summer dinners like roasted Mediterranean vegetables and halloumi, grilled tofu shawarma or barbecue veggie tofu skewers. This is also a great lunch salad.

Leftovers, Storage & Make-Ahead Tips

You can make the vinaigrette up to 3 days in advance. Store it in a mason jar in the fridge. The olive oil will become solid because it will be chilled. Put it out at room temperature for 15 minutes and then stir it before you toss it in the salad.

Since this salad doesn’t have lettuce, it’s great for leftovers and won’t get so soggy. You can keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 days. I like to let it sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving, so it’s not as cold as it would be right from the fridge.

You can also stretch what you have left into another meal by stirring it with cooked grains such as brown rice, quinoa, farro or Italian barley.

More Asparagus Recipes

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
Roasted Asparagus Soup
Sesame Tofu Asparagus
Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad
Sheet Pan Mushroom Asparagus Gnocchi
Udon Noodle Stir-Fry with Asparagus, Mushrooms & Peas
Asparagus Salad with Cannellini Beans