Cheddar Bacon Wrapped Aspargus Bundles

About

This ultimate easy Keto side dish recipe is cheesy, crispy, salty, hot, and nutritious! Fresh asparagus stalks are chopped and arranged in perfectly sized bundles. Then, they’re blanketed in layers of cheddar cheese and wrapped in your favorite bacon before baked to a crisp in your oven. Each bite has your tenderized veggies, melted cheese, and meaty bacon. You don’t even need to season the asparagus because the bacon does all the seasoning in the oven! However, at your discretion, you could include a sprinkle of black pepper or garlic powder over the bundles before putting them in your oven. Read on to learn what to pair this side dish recipe with and other flavorful twists you can include in the recipe.

What Do I Enjoy This Side Dish With?

These yummy bundles are perfect for including in your Keto meal prepping. They easily reheat in your microwave and can last up to 5 days in your refrigerator. You may enjoy the cheddar bacon wrapped asparagus bundles on the side with a hot dinner or lunch. This recipe is, however, featured in the Carb Manager Turkey Sausage Patties w Hollandaise breakfast recipe. Asparagus bundles wrapped in bacon and cheese taste great with buttery hollandaise sauce! You can even east these asparagus bundles as a quick Keto snack throughout the week. Make a batch in advance and have a healthy dose of Keto fats in between meals with tons of flavor.

Flavorful Twists

Since this Keto recipe is so simple and easy, you can just as easily include some extra steps to change up the flavors whenever you feel like it. If you want to add seasonings to the asparagus, coat the stalks in a light layer of olive oil with any seasonings you choose before wrapping them in the bacon. For a spicy kick, substitute the cheddar cheese with slices of pepper jack. If you don’t like spicy, colby jack or smoked gouda cheese would make delicious cheese substitutions. For the bacon, choose your favorite flavor from the grocery store or butcher. Wood smoked or peppery bacon are great options. Look out for any flavors that suggest sweetness – check the nutritional info for any added sugar, which you’ll want to avoid on your Keto diet.

Ingredients

2 ¾ ounce asparagus, raw
1 ¼ oz cheddar cheese
4 slice – 6" long bacon

Instructions

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Start with approximately 2 asparagus stalks per bundle and cut the stalks in half. Each bundle should have 2 tops and 2 bottoms, or 4 pieces total. Slice the cheese into 2 rectangles per bundle, as pictured. For this recipe, you do not need to blanch or season the asparagus.
Lay down a strip of bacon horizontally. Arrange the base of your asparagus bundle on the widest end of the bacon. Lay the 2 cheese slices on top of the asparagus. Wrap the loose bacon around the cheese and asparagus bundle, tucking the ends of the bacon to keep them from popping up during baking.
Arrange each wrapped asparagus bundle on your sheet tray. Bake the bundles for 25 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy on the outside, the cheese is melted, and the asparagus is tender. At your discretion, you can use a paper towel to soak up any excess grease from the bacon. A reasonable Keto serving size in a meal would be 2 bundles per serving.