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One of the best scallop recipes is garlic scallops where fresh sea scallops are sauteed with garlic butter wine sauce. Quick and easy recipe that takes 15 mins from start to finish.
How To Cook Scallops
I love scallops, I would cook and make them every day if they are not so expensive. They are one of the best ingredients from the sea.
There are many ways to make scallops:
- Sauteed scallops.
- Baked scallops
- Grilled scallops
- In a pasta such as creamy scallops pasta
- In a stew such as seafood stew
Sauteed Garlic Scallops
One of the best scallop recipes are sauteed scallops on the stove using a skillet. I love cast-iron skillet for a simple saute recipe. All you need are some olive oil, melted butter and minced garlic.
The garlic sauce calls for white wine, salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper. It’s really that easy!
Dry Scallops (Natural) Vs. Wet Scallops (Soaked)
There are two kinds of scallops available in the market:
Natural/untreated (Dry) and treated/soaked with water (Wet). When it comes to scallops, you want to get dry, natural and untreated sea scallops.
Dry scallops are milky and creamy white in color, sometimes with a slight pale yellow or pink tint. They are soft to the touch and the surface does not feel slippery. The flesh smells of the sea, and they are absolutely briny, sweet, and delightful. They are expensive.
Wet scallops are treated with water and phosphates. They are are less expensive but trust me, you don’t want to get those. They are smooth and slippery to the touch, translucent, and when rinsed with water, the water bubbles up.
Those are the clear indications that they are not natural but treated. Avoid them because they taste nothing like the natural and “real” scallops. In fact, they are bland with no sweet or briny flavors after cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
This scallop recipe is only 236 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Garlic Scallops
This meal is best served with a pasta or as a main dish. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Scallop Recipes You Might Like
- Lemon Butter Sauteed Scallops
- Seared Scallops with Garlic Herb
- Honey Sriracha Scallops
- Brown Butter Scallops
Garlic Scallops
Ingredients
- 1 lb (500g) scallops, natural and untreated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 dashes ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Rinse the scallops under cold water and remove the tough ligament from the side of each scallop. Pat them dry with paper towels.
- Heat a skillet (cast iron preferred) over medium to high heat. Once fully heated, add the olive oil and butter. Sauté the garlic briefly, then add the scallops and pan-sear until both sides are browned. Add the white wine, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a light simmer, cooking until the inside of the scallops is cooked through. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What would you serve with the scallops? Rice, noodles, fries?
What a fantastic recipe. Super delicious. This website is going to make a good cook out of me yet!
The preparation of them was easy, and they came out great. They sear pretty quickly on each side (about 1.5-2 mins on each side) carfull not to overcook or rhey will turn to rubber. Along with the fresh garlic, I also sprinkled some Old Bay on top of them. Let’s just say, they were “The other side of heaven.”
Thanks for trying my garlic scallops.
What kind of white wine?
Any kind of white wine will do.
How long do you sear on each side? I need a little more direction.
Sear about 1 minute (uninterrupted), then turn. The surface should turn brown. It all depends on how big your scallop is, some takes longer to cook through.
Hi,
Can I use sake instead of white wine?
Thanks
Yes!
I think it wrong to say that you do not want to use the “wet” scallops. The thing is, in many parts of the country the “dry” scallops are very hard to find. Does that mean you can’t have flavorable scallops? Not at all. You can let the “white” ones soak in 1L of water, 2 TBS kosher salt and 1/4 c lemon juice for 30 minutes and the flavors will come out to a fair degree. Not quite as good as the dry, but still fairly good.
Good tips thanks Timothy! :)
My scallops don’t specify if they are natural
Or not. How can I tell?
The natural scallops (untreated) smells like seafood. It has a nice soft touch and not slippery or soapy. It’s also yellowish in color. The ones treated with water looks plump, smooth to the touch and no smell. The taste of natural scallops vs treated scallops are day and night. Treated ones have no taste whatsoever.
Oh, thank you, Timothy! I live in Wisconsin. Kind of hard to find dry scallops here.
Did you push the garlic to the site so they don’t get burned? If not, you can pan-sear the scallops first before and set them aside, then add them bac after you saute the garlic.
Looks Tasty n healthy