Is your asparagus looking like it's best days are long gone? Is it spoiled? Follow the tips in this post on when to toss and when to keep your raw asparagus. Get some ideas for some quick ways to cook it when you don't have much time and don't want to waste your asparagus.
Some foods are extremely easy to tell when they go bad.
Mold on strawberries. Nope, toss out.
Potatoes turned green. No thank you.
Banana 100% completely black. Not even good for bread anymore.
What about asparagus? When it is not really usable anymore.
I am going to talk about all the signs of spoilage you should look for. I will share what could go wrong with your asparagus stalks and if you can still use it.
I know we have all forgotten about something in the back of the fridge and we feel real bad about wasting food. I am hoping after you read this you will waste less food and not feel guilty.
Jump to:
- 🍄 Moldy
- 💦 Tips are Soggy or Slimy
- 👴 Stalks are Wrinkly
- 🟡 Turns Yellow
- 🥀 Limp
- 👃 Smells Bad
- 📅 How Long Does Asparagus Last?
- 💐 Best Way to Keep It Fresh
- ❓ Should You Buy Asparagus in Bags?
- ♨️ Cook It and Use it Later
- 🦺 Practice Food Safety
- 🎧 Podcast Episode - How to Reduce Asparagus Waste
- 💨 Quick Asparagus Recipes
- 📧 Join Our Email List
- ➕ More Posts in our Toss or Keep series
Keep in mind these are my best recommendations, it's up to you to make the final call. If you don't feel comfortable with saving something then I would rather you error on the side of caution.
🍄 Moldy
If your asparagus has gone moldy on you, you have some storage issues. Have you keep your asparagus wrapped up tightly in a plastic bag?
The bag holds moisture next to the asparagus, giving mold a great chance to grow. Although this doesn't happen nearly as fast as it does with something like say strawberries - how many times have you picked up a case of moldy strawberries at the grocery store?
If your asparagus has got mold in it, it's time to go. Sorry. The only thing I will eat that has mold on it is cheese.
Verdict - Throw It Out! (or compost it)
💦 Tips are Soggy or Slimy
No one wants soggy tips. That might be the worse. The tips tend to turn dark green or black when they are bad.
The asparagus tips are the best part of the asparagus. That is why when I make my asparagus pesto that tips don't get blended it, they get mixed in whole.
Moisture is again the reason for the asparagus decline. Sometimes the bundle is tied too tight. Often this happens more with smaller tips.
Not all is lost. I have often found that the rest of the asparagus is sometimes able to be used still by sacrificing the tips. It's a hard sacrifice to make.
It's best to cut off the tips as soon as you can before the rest of the asparagus becomes unusable as well.
Verdict - Cut off the tips and use the rest
👴 Stalks are Wrinkly
This is the number one thing I see when asparagus is heading south. It begins to get wrinkles in it.
Even with the best storage techniques this will eventually happen to your asparagus if you don't eat it.
Can you still eat it when it's wrinkly? Sure. The texture may not be as perfect and the asparagus will be more starchy. You could include it in a soup. Or I have even roasted it as this point and still it was not terrible.
Steaming I would avoid. I think it will become too soft to be enjoyable.
Verdict - Roast it or Make stock or soup
🟡 Turns Yellow
Never seen this happen. Ever. Well maybe I have seen the tips get a little yellow, but if your stalks are yellow too, then I guess congratulations is in order. Asparagus isn't a vegetable like spinach, broccoli, or kale that will go yellow when bad.
Verdict - I don't know how you did it. Please take a photo and tag me on Instagram
🥀 Limp
The asparagus may look fine at a glance but then you grab it as it's a limp as a wet noodle and the color is more dull. I would say that the same principles of wrinkly asparagus apply here.
Verdict - Roast it or Make stock or soup
👃 Smells Bad
Fresh asparagus doesn't have an odor. If yours has an unpleasant odor, trust your sniffer and get rid of. I am sure smelling bad asparagus will ruin your appetite anyway.
Verdict - Trash or compost
📅 How Long Does Asparagus Last?
This depends a lot on how fresh it was to begin with. If you bought it from the farmer's market and it was picked that morning or the day before I could see it being your fridge for a couple weeks and be fine.
The asparagus at the grocery store unless it's local may have traveled across state lines or even international borders.
Asparagus should last in the fridge about 5 days from purchase. After that you could start seeing the problems we talked about above. I have had kept asparagus in the fridge that was a week old or even two weeks old that was still edible just not ideal anymore. The condition of the asparagus is more important than the actual number of days.
💐 Best Way to Keep It Fresh
The first thing you need to know is that asparagus should be treated like a flower.
What do you do to keep cut flowers around as long as possible. You put them in a vase with water. The same thing you do with asparagus.
Any good grocery store will store their asparagus upright in water, you should continue to do so when you get home.
Place the asparagus in any kind of vessel with enough water to cover the bottom inch or two of the asparagus. And then place in your fridge.
Some people suggest removing the rubber band and I admit I haven't always done that. I don't find it to be a problem, I kind of like keeping the bunch together. Remove them if you like.
Store this way, I think you can easily store it for 5 days without compromising the quality. Still best to eat as soon as you can as with any vegetable.
❓ Should You Buy Asparagus in Bags?
Some stores only sell asparagus that is in a sealed plastic bag. This is the case with Costco. They at least keep the asparagus in the refrigerated produce section. And the bags of asparagus I found recently there were very tall so the tips had space around them. This is better than most bagged asparagus, which if I am ever going to buy I really look over very closely.
♨️ Cook It and Use it Later
If you are buying asparagus and need it for a meal down the road, you could always cook it right away and then store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. I have done this before, especially when I am using the asparagus as an ingredient like in a quiche.
🦺 Practice Food Safety
Remember to always practice food safety. If you don't feel comfortable with eating it, then I would rather you error on the side of caution then you end up getting sick.
🎧 Podcast Episode - How to Reduce Asparagus Waste
Listen to me talk more about how you can reduce wasting asparagus in your household by clicking the play button below.
Listen to more episodes of the Eat Shop Waste No
💨 Quick Asparagus Recipes
If you are worried your asparagus is going to go bad before you can use it, it's good to have a list of quick recipes that are easy to make that don't require much planning.
Cooking the asparagus in the microwave (yes it works) with the wet paper towel method or in your air fryer are quick easy. What if you have a bunch of vegetables in your fridge that are going bad. Maybe your peppers are looking wrinkly? You can combine them all into one dish.
📧 Join Our Email List
➕ More Posts in our Toss or Keep series
Interested in more blog posts in this series, check these out:
Frances rie
I was given asparagus from friend. It had strong odor. I found that some of the middle was bad but the rest was firm and ok. Can I use the good out of the bundle.
Eric Samuelson
You could use the stalks that weren't bad as the other stalks are mussy. Use your best judgment, if you don't felt comfortable then just toss it.