Seared Scallops

These crusted Pan Seared Scallops are basted in a fresh lemon garlic butter pan sauce. They’re an easy yet impressive seafood dish, that takes minutes to make. Serve them for special dinners with your family, date night with your special someone or when entertaining friends.

Ingredients to Make Seared Scallops Recipe

Seared scallops are a seafood dish that involves cooking scallops in butter and oil over high heat until they form a crust on each side. They’re seasoned simply with salt and black pepper, but topped with a lemon infused garlic butter sauce for next level flavor. Ingredients to make pan Seared Scallops: (Scroll down for full printable recipe card.)

• Scallops – 18 large frozen or fresh sea scallops, around 2 pounds. They should be completely thawed, if frozen.
• Oil and Butter – Unsalted butter is imperative adding richness to the sauce and using a combination of oil and butter prevents the butter from burning.
• Liquid – White wine and fresh lemon juice adds acidity and balances the flavor.
• Garlic – Four large cloves to further season the sauce.
• Seasonings – Salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes for spice.
• Citrus – Fresh lemon zest gives a pop of citrus flavor.
• Serve – Fresh Italian parsley for the sauce and for garnishing.
• Pasta – Cooked angel hair pasta for serving.

How to Make the Best Seared Scallops Recipe

• Prepare Scallops – Pat dry scallops. Remove any small side muscle on under side.
• Heat Oil and Butter – In a large skillet, melt together olive oil and butter over medium-high heat.
• Season Scallops – Season scallops with salt and pepper to taste. Add to pan in a single layer. Cook – Cook in batches per the recipe cooking in batches. Remove to a platter and keep warm. (Add additional oil to the skillet as needed)
• Make the Sauce – Add remaining butter and garlic to pan. Cook for 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant.
• Add Liquid and Seasonings – Stir in wine, lemon juice and lemon zest and crushed red pepper flakes. Continue to cook for 2 minutes to slightly reduce, scraping any brown bits from bottom of skillet.
• Return to the Pan – Add scallops back to skillet spooning sauce over each to coat.
• Serve – Arrange over angel hair pasta and enjoy drizzled with the sauce.

Tips for Making Pan Seared Scallops

• Kitchen Equipment You’ll Need: One large 12-inch skillet, measuring cups and spoons, large spoon for stirring, citrus juicer and zester, sharp knife and cutting board.
• How Do You Know if Scallops are Fresh? Choose scallops that are large, firm and white in color. They shouldn’t have a strong smell. The scallops used in this recipe are around 2 1/2 inch by 3/4 inches thick.
• Prepare the Scallops: Double check the scallops and remove the side muscle from the scallops as it can be chewy and tough.
• Yield May Vary Slightly: The amount of servings will depend on appetites of those you’re serving and according to the weight of the scallops. If you need more servings, or have healthy appetites and need larger servings, this recipe is easily adaptable.
• Use a Wine You Enjoy: A quality white wine is the best for this recipe, so I highly recommend that you go for the gold. Never use cooking wine, always use a delicious white wine that you would enjoy drinking.
• Remove the Moisture: Take a moment to pat dry the scallops using paper towels so the surface will be dry. Doing so will ensure that  you’ll achieve that crusted exterior and brown them without steaming.
• Cook in a Single Layer and Don’t Crowd the Pan: Sear the scallops in a single layer in a hot skillet in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. You’ll need to add more oil and possibly more butter to the pan between each batch.

Recipe Variations

• Wine Substitution: If you have an aversion to cooking with wine, you could use 1/2 cup seafood stock or 1/2 cup chicken stock to make the sauce.
• Seasoning Variations: The scallops in this recipe are simply seasoned with salt and black pepper. You can adjust the amount of black pepper used to your personal taste for black pepper scallops. You can also sprinkle them with your favorite seafood seasoning.
• Sauce: You can also add a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil for a hint of Asian flavor, or dry sherry to change the flavor profile.

Storage and Leftovers

• Leftovers: Pan seared scallops are best made and served, just like most seafood items. Should you have any leftover, chill them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
• Reheating: Reheat gently in a non-stick skillet with the sauce over medium heat.

More Easy Seafood Recipes to Make

• Crispy Panko Fried Shrimp is delicious served with tarter sauce or cocktail sauce for dipping.
• Cozy up to a bowl of Clam Chowder any day of the week.
• This crispy Baked Flounder can be served as an entree or on toasted rolls for a yummy fish sandwich.
• A big bowl of homemade Jambalaya will cure what ails you!
• This recipe for Southern style Fried Catfish is the only one you’ll ever need.
• Crawfish Etouffee will have you thinking you’re dining in New Orleans at your own kitchen table.
• Scrumptious Maple Glazed Salmon is super simple to make.
• Grilled Trout from My Recipes.

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Helpful Kitchen Items: 

• 12 inch Ceramic Skillet
• Lemon Zester
• Measuring Set
• Basting Spoon