Learn how to cook restaurant-worthy scallops at home. Our recipe guarantees beautiful golden-brown seared scallops and comes together in 10 minutes!
Scallops are one of the easiest things you can cook, especially if you sear them in a pan (they’re just as easy as shrimp). This is my go-to scallops recipe, and I’m happy to share it with you!
There’s no need to be intimidated. Scallops are easy to cook, I promise. With a few tricks, you’ll be cooking them like a pro in no time. Plus, I’ll show you how to make our delicious garlic basil butter to serve with them.
Key Ingredients
- Scallops: I look for large sea scallops since they taste sweet. I also prefer fresh. Frozen will work in this recipe, so check the tips section below for tips on thawing them before cooking.
- Oil, salt, and pepper: I cook them in a hot skillet with some oil. Any high-heat oil works. I especially love avocado oil. You’ll also want to season your scallops liberally before cooking them.
- Flour: While optional, I love dusting flour over mine before cooking them. The flour absorbs excess moisture and adds a nice golden brown crust. You can skip this step if you don’t have flour or are gluten-free.
- Butter, garlic, basil, and lemon: It’s hard to describe just how delicious our garlic basil butter is with these seared scallops. I highly recommend it, and it only adds a minute or two of cooking time.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Cook Scallops Like a Pro
Tip 1: Pat them dry. I use a paper towel to pat them as dry as possible. Damp scallops don’t sear or brown in the pan. The drier they are, the better they will sear. Frozen scallops will have more moisture, so take extra care when patting them dry.
Tip 2: Lightly dust flour on each side. The flour absorbs excess moisture and adds a nice golden brown crust. I use the same trick when searing fish, and even pork chops!
Tip 3: Season well. I use a generous amount of salt and pepper. I season one side of the scallops out of the pan, place them seasoned side down into the hot pan, and then while that side cooks, I season the other side.
Tip 4: Use a hot skillet. If they aren’t sizzling when you place them in the pan, it isn’t hot enough. You can always test the heat with one scallop and adjust from there.
Tip 5: Finish with our garlic basil butter. To really make these restaurant-worthy, use our garlicky butter. Scallops already taste incredible, but adding a bit of creamy butter, garlic, and fresh herbs at the end of cooking makes them out of this world. I also love using garlic butter when finishing our shrimp scampi recipe and cilantro lime butter shrimp.
Serving Suggestions
Many side dishes work well with seared scallops. I love creamy grits, polenta, mashed potatoes, and mushroom risotto. For a lighter, low-carb side, try mashed cauliflower or zucchini noodles.
For rice, take a look at our saffron rice, coconut rice or this cilantro lime rice. Roasted vegetables are also lovely. Think about roasted asparagus, roasted cabbage, or roasted green beans.
More Favorite Seafood Recipes
- Cilantro Lime Butter Shrimp
- Garlic Shrimp Scampi
- Lemon Dill Baked Salmon
- Chile Shrimp Tacos with Slaw
Perfect Seared Scallops
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Seared scallops cook quickly (within 5 minutes) and are best when enjoyed immediately. If you’re serving them with pasta, vegetables, or rice, make sure they are ready before cooking the scallops. I highly recommend the garlic basil butter!
A few favorite sides for these are creamy polenta, mashed cauliflower, and this saffron rice!
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
12 large sea scallops, 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, optional, see notes
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons avocado oil or vegetable oil
Garlic Basil Butter1 ½ tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh basil leaves
3 to 4 lemon slices
Directions
1Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. Dust one side of the scallops with a small amount of flour, then season with salt and pepper.
2Heat a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan. When the oil is hot and shimmery, carefully place the scallops in the pan, seasoned side down.
3Cook, without moving them, until browned, about 2 minutes.
4While the first side is browning, dust the unseasoned side of the scallops with a bit of flour and season them with salt and pepper.
5Flip the scallops. If any stick to the pan, wait a few more seconds then try again, gently wiggling them side to side to help release them.
6Add the butter and garlic to the pan, swirling the butter around as it melts.
7Cook another minute or two, then remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the basil leaves and lemon slices. Serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Cooked scallops last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do your best to store them in the coldest part of your fridge (usually towards the back). While you can technically freeze cooked scallops, you should only freeze scallops that were initially from fresh sources (not previously frozen).
- Reheating: To reheat, add them to a skillet over medium heat with a small amount of butter or olive oil. Sear for 1 to 2 minutes per side until heated through.
- Do I need to use flour? If you don’t want to use flour, it’s okay. It helps with even browning, and since some of the flour sticks to the bottom of the pan, it mixes with the butter, helping to thicken the garlic basil butter sauce. If you are gluten-free or don’t want to use flour, make sure the scallops are as dry as you can get them for the best chance at a good sear.
- Using frozen scallops: The easiest and safest way to thaw them is to place them in the refrigerator the night before cooking them. To quickly thaw scallops, add them to a sealed bag and put them in a large bowl under cold running water. Move the bag around the bowl occasionally until the scallops have defrosted, about 30 minutes. Before cooking them, take extra care when patting them dry.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
These were perfect, indeed! Thanks for sharing. I was nervous about cooking scallops, but this was easy and delicious!
This is the only scallop recipe I will use. It is perfect and so, so good!!
🙂
Thank you for your recipe.. What do i do with the ‘pink bits’ of the scallops. Are they edible?
Yep, they are edible.
Excited to try your seared scallop recipe tonight – reviews rocked !
That’s amazing, thank you so much for coming back!
these acallops are delicious can I add white wine
Yes, a dry white wine would be lovely.
I made these last night (didn’t have basil on hand) and by far this is the most flavorful receipe I have made. I have been looking for this for years! thank you!!
Just tried this recipe as a starter for Christmas Dinner. Everyone was impressed. The butter sauce really made the dish 😋
Take the heels off of the scallops first! The little bumps on the sides peel right off. If you don’t, you’ll have that little piece of unchewable rubber in your mouth.
I made this fir dinner this evening- it was so quick and delicious! The addition of fresh basil and lemon at the end made the recipe. Will definitely make it again!
your recipes are so easy to follow and you explain with such detail. Can´t wait to try to cook the scallops
Thank you so much! We are so happy to hear that the extra detail is helpful. You are going to love this recipe 🙂
I like your blog.
I cooked this last night and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing.
This was a simple but delicious recipe! I appreciated the accompanying video as well. Even with frost bitten scallops I was able to use them for this recipe. The key is to have them thaw out in the refrigerator and then make sure they are patted dry by using paper towels, it may take more than a few paper towels but worth it. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Best way ever for scallops! Perfection on plate thanks
This was simple and amazing!
Hello! Is one cup of basil leaves accurate? Wanted to make sure, seems like a lot.
Yep!
Simple and delicious!! Cooked per the recipe. My husband could not stop moaning Mmmm….. Trying this recipe with Halibut Cheeks tonight. The sauce is to die for, so grabbing a fresh loaf of sourdough this afternoon.
This recipe with Halibut cheeks would be delicious. So happy that you and your husband loved it 🙂
These were the best scallops that i ever ate! They were melt in my mouth! This is my new way to cook them!
I just tried it with a fine dusting of rice flour and garlic powder and because I’m not close to a market I used fresh chopped parsley instead of basil it was delicious
I have tried various seared scallop recipes over the years with varying degrees of sucess. However, I can say without a doubt that this recipe is the best I have ever tried. They seared very well and the garlic, butter, basil finish gave the the most wonderful flavor. Scallops are a delicate flavor and I initially wondered if the garlic and basil would overpower the sweet flavor of fresh scallops but it was just right. I highly recommend this recipe and have already shared it with several of my foodie friends.
I loved this recipe. I didn’t have any basil or parsley. It was fantastic without. Will definitely make it again!
I tried this recipe using flour, but I prefer the scallops without.
This was easy to follow and thank you for the insights. I will use this recipe for my scallop needs!!
Absolutely delicious! So simple, quick and tasty! Now I can’t wait to see what other recipes you have! Thank you!
I made these tonight and I’m never making them any other way! They were so good. I did as you directed and did not over cook them. They were succulent and not chewy. Perfection