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Sweet, delicate sea scallops are seared in a hot skillet and served in a light, lemony wine sauce that’s perfect over risotto or pasta.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Seared scallops in a garlic butter sauce with white wine have a light and tangy flavor.
- Prep Note: Use dry-packed scallops and thoroughly pat dry for the best sear.
- Recommended Tools: A meat thermometer is a must-have tool, and a non-stick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet is perfect for cooking scallops.
Ingredient Tips for Pan-Seared Scallops
- Scallops: Choose firm, fresh-smelling sea scallops over bay scallops, which are smaller and better for chowder. Frozen scallops should be fully thawed and patted dry before using.
- Sauce: Garlic, butter, and white wine (pinot grigio, chardonnay, or sauvignon blanc) are all you need for this simple sauce recipe.
- Garnish: Chopped fresh herbs and a little squeeze of lemon juice on top will bring all the flavors together.
Variations
- No scallops? Try using shrimp instead.
- Make a creamy sauce by whisking in a little half-and-half in Step 7 before returning the scallops to the pan.
- This is a great recipe for adding extras like sautéed mushrooms, asparagus pieces, or peas to the sauce in Step 7.
Savor the Flavor
Keep leftover pan-seared scallops in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat scallops with sauce in a covered container in the microwave in 30-second intervals.
Freeze scallops and sauce in zippered bags for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
What to Serve with Scallops
Did you love these Pan-Seared Scallops? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Pan Seared Scallops
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound sea scallops
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ⅓ cup white wine
- lemon wedges for serving
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Thaw scallops in the fridge if frozen. Dab dry with a paper towel and season with salt & pepper.
- Heat oil over high heat in a nonstick skillet. Once the oil is smoking, add scallops and cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until browned and golden.
- Flip scallops over and cook an additional 1-2 minutes or just until firm and browned. Do not overcook.
- Remove from heat and place on a plate to rest.
- Reduce heat to medium and wipe-out skillet with a paper towel.
- Add butter and garlic to the pan and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add white wine and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add scallops back to the pan and spoon sauce over top.
- Garnish with lemon wedges & parsley, serve immediately.
Notes
- Ensure oil is hot and scallops are dry before placing them into the pan.
- Do not move, flip, or stir them until they have a golden-brown crust.
- Sea scallops will need anywhere from 3-6 minutes to cook. If they’re on the smaller side, they’ll need closer to 3 minutes. If they’re larger, they might need as much as 6 minutes.
- To tell if scallops are cooked, they should be just opaque. The texture should be slightly firm but still tender.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Seafood
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Excellent and simple. I omit the black pepper (use a pinch of white instead) and chardonnay is my usual wine for this. So simple. So delicious
Alice, that sounds perfect—white pepper and chardonnay are such a nice touch. Simple and delicious is always the best combo!
Can I use bay scallops and just cook them for a minute? Thank you.
I have never tried this recipe with bay scallops so I can’t say for sure but since they are smaller and more tender you will want to watch the cook time to ensure you don’t over cook them.
I’ve tried two other recipes Don’t get me wrong they were good but I will try yours and then respond but how good they sound really good little different than the other two recipes I’ll let you know
I look forward to hearing how they turn out for you!
My grandfather was a chef, and this was exactly the way he used to cook sea scallops, and there is no better way to do it. There is only one problem with the recipe, and that is it only asks for ONE pound of scallops, lending the question ‘What is everyone else going to eat?’ Because if I am the one cooking these, no one else is getting any!!! LOLOL :)
LOL you better double the recipe, Robert!
Great recipes thanks for all your hard work :) you are my goto site for nightly dinners
Keith
Thank you Keith! You made my day!
You should change your initial comment so it doesn’t read ‘bay scallops’. I almost didn’t click on it to check how you cooked them. “What could be better than bay scallops with melted butter and garlic in delicate white wine sauce?”
Aha Micki! Thank you for catching that. I will try to update it.
this is a great website. I tried the cream spinach it was excellent. I also tried the seared scallops they did not turn out well I could not get them to crisp I used oil patted them dry well seasoned let pan get very hot no luck had to throw them away. can you give me a tip to what went wrong.
Oh no, how disappointing, I’m sorry these didn’t work out for you. Were the scallops fully thawed (if there were still slightly frozen in the middle they can release liquid). A few things that can cause them not to sear are if they have moisture on them, if the pan is not hot enough when they go in or if they are moved/flipped too soon. They should sizzle as soon as they hit the hot pan. I hope that helps.
I absolutely LOVE scallops, but they hardly fit with the idea of this site, Spend with PENNIES, unless you have an awful lot of pennies saved up. Scallops are one of the most expensive seafoods that you will find if you want anything with size and substance enough for them to be a main course of your meal.
They’re definitely a more expensive ingredient. That being said, the cost to prepare scallops at home is substantially less than enjoying in a restaurant. I find that wholesale clubs (Sams/Costco) often have the best prices for large frozen scallops. Hope that helps!