Elevate your dinner with these delicious seared scallops in a zesty lemon butter garlic sauce. With just a few ingredients and minimal effort, you can create a restaurant-worthy dish in no time.
Not only are they beautiful, but they taste like a little bit of heaven. If you love seafood like I do, try shrimp scampi, baked cod, and blackened mahi mahi.
Impress your dinner guests with this simple, delicious recipe for perfectly seared scallops. Get ready to elevate your cooking game! I have tried other ways to cook scallops, and they are good, but there is no comparison to the flavor of these delicacies. You can sear scallops like a head chef with just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes. Serve this dish over angel hair pasta or white rice with fresh asparagus.
What Are Scallops?
Scallops are free-swimming mollusks with hinged shells that live in saltwater environments. There are two types of scallops, and most people have an opinion on which tastes best, but I like both.
The larger ones are Atlantic sea scallops, found in shallow open waters and harvested wild. The smaller bay scallops are found in the seagrass beds of harbors and bays along the Atlantic coastal waters.
How to Sear Scallops
First, ensure that the wet scallops are good and dry. Pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with a pinch of salt right before searing. Use a mixture of oil and butter and get it good and hot, almost to the smoking point. Then add the scallops and sear for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes on the bottom, then flip and sear the other side. They should have a golden brown crust on each side. Do not overcrowd the pan, so if it is necessary, work in batches.
Ingredients Needed
- Scallops: with the side muscle removed
- Oil: olive oil or canola oil
- Garlic: fresh is always best
- Lemons: for juice and garnish
- Seasonings: chopped fresh parsley, thyme, or dill, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation Tips
- If using frozen scallops, they should be completely thawed. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or in a bowl of ice-cold water just until thawed.
- Let scallops rest for 5 minutes at room temperature.
- Work with dry scallops. Dry sea scallops thoroughly with paper towels.
- Scallops become opaque when cooked through. They cook very quickly and become tough and chewy if overcooked.
- Try other citrus flavors like orange and lime.
More Seafood Recipes
Seared Scallops with Garlic Lemon Butter
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb sea scallops side muscle removed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or other fresh herbs
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt right before cooking.
- Add olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to a large sauté pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Get the fat good and hot and almost to the smoking point. Add scallops and sear for 1 1/2 -2 minutes on each side. They should have a golden crust on each side. Do not overcrowd the pan, so if necessary, cook in batches. As cooked, remove to plate.
- Wipe out the skillet. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the same skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice and return scallops to pan. Warm scallops for 1-2 minutes, turning several times to get them in the lemon butter. Sprinkle with parsley, salt, and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
Notes
- If using frozen scallops, they should be completely thawed. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or in a bowl of ice-cold water just until thawed.
- Let scallops rest for 5 minutes at room temperature.
- Work with dry scallops. Dry sea scallops thoroughly with paper towels.
- Scallops become opaque when cooked through. They cook very quickly and become tough and chewy if overcooked.
- Try other citrus flavors like orange and lime.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
wilhelmina
This is such a great way to showcase the flavor of the scallops! So dang delicious!
Toni
This is so easy to make and so good! Everyone at my house loved it!
Julie
VERY GOOD! FAMILY LOVED IT. HIGH END RESTAURANT QAULITY. CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE AND IMPRESS MY FRIENDS. THANK YOU!
Beth Pierce
That is so sweet! Thanks Julie! I am so glad that you and your family loved them!
Stacy
I made this tonight for dinner and paired it with fresh french style green beans, and crash hot potatoes. It came out perfect! Followed the recipe exactly as written. Thank you so much for sharing! This one’s definitely a keeper!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure Stacy! So glad that you liked it!
Sharon
Where are the carbs coming from in this recipe?
Beth Pierce
Scallops have some carbs in them. The software that is available throws lots of seafood in that particular group so I think the carbs are over stated on that.
Angie
We used this recipe for fish tacos. I put these scallops, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage and chipotle mayo sauce on corn tortillas and everyone was stuffed with happiness. Thank you! Necessity is the mother of invention.
Beth Pierce
That sounds amazing Angie! Delicious! Now you are making me hungry!!
Laura
This is a most excellent recipe, best scallops l have ever made!! Superior!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Laura! so glad that you liked them!
Annabelle
I never bought, ordered or made scallops. When you say to remove the side muscle I’m wondering if this is on all scallops or only the large ones. Do you throw them away? Please advise…I’m wanting to try this but am a real beginner with seafood. Thank you.
Beth Pierce
Almost all scallops have the side muscle removed. You can always google removing the side muscle of scallops to see images and yes you would throw them away.
Brenda
Just bought sea scallops today. Will be trying this recipe for dinner tomorrow. I can’t wait. They look amazing!! I will let you know how much I like them.
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Brenda! I sure hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Pam
Love scallops! I put a splash of vermouth in all fish I cook… stops the “fish smell” in the house:) also I have made adding Gate way to the north spice from The Spice House! One of my favorite dishes! Thank you for reminding me of this great dish! ?♀️
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome! Thanks for the tips. I will have to remember about the vermouth.
Mary Stevens
This recipe looks easy and delicious but is really high in sodium. Do scallops naturally have that much sodium?
Beth Pierce
I need to put a disclaimer on my site that the nutritional counts are only approximations. You have to choose from group of foods and some of the foods in that group may have a very high sodium content. I think this is one of those cases. They do have some sodium but not that much.
Sandy
I love this recipe, so easy and so good! I’ve made them several times and making them again tonight. Thank you!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Sandy! So happy to hear that you like them! Scallops are one of my favorite meals!
Linda Sharpe
How can this recipe have so many carbs. Nothing in this recipe would create such a high carb count of 35.4 grams. Was this a mistake?
Beth Pierce
I will run it through my program again. There are just program that do this because I could never manually calculate all this. Sometime the program does make mistakes.
Beth Pierce
Believe it or not there are some carbs in scallops. Take a look https://thepaleodiet.com/believe-shellfish-contains-carbohydrate/. Now that being said it is probably overstated because my program automatically through a lot of shellfish into the same category.
Kristyn
I’ve never made scallops before, but this recipe looks super easy & I am excited to try! They look so tasty & tender!
Valentina
Delicious scallops recipe!
Kara
You can’t go wrong with garlic lemon butter and seafood. So yummy!