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Why You’ll Love My Recipe

Make delicious, tender scallops bathed in garlic butter, right at home! Scallops done right are amazing, but they can be a little intimidating. This recipe makes use of a broiler to keep things quick and easy.

For some more great recipes using scallops, why not try making these Bacon Wrapped Scallops? Or some Chili Coconut Scallops Campfire Dinner instead? Whichever scallops you choose, serve them with some asparagus and some rice or pasta.

A white oval plate of cooked scallops garnished with chopped parsley, lemon wedges, and a sprig of parsley, set on a white surface with garlic, fresh parsley, and a halved lemon in the background.

Karlynn’s Recipe Notes

Skill Level: This recipe is quite easy, but does require some precision and focus.
Total Time: Preparing these scallops will take you approximately 20 minutes from start to finish. You’ll need to pay fairly close attention, so make your sides in advance.
Variations: Since scallops, like most other seafood, go well with citrusy flavours, this a is a wonderful opportunity to try some herbs you may not have used before. A sprinkle of dried lemon thyme, tarragon, or lemon balm right before you serve the scallops will add a bit of zest and complexity to the flavour profile. If you don’t have access to any of those, try a dash of lemon pepper.
Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need a medium mixing bowl, a colander, and a nonstick baking pan. You’ll also want some sort of utensil for turning the scallops.

A white plate with cooked scallops garnished with parsley, served alongside asparagus. In the background, there are lemon halves, a bowl of asparagus, salt and pepper shakers, and drinking glasses.

What You’ll Need For Ingredients

Scallops: If you happen to have access to a fishmonger, start there. If your grocery store has a good quality seafood department, that may work too. If all else fails, frozen scallops will work for this recipe. Just be sure to fully defrost your scallops if you use frozen ones.

Garlic Butter: Make your very own garlic butter with minced garlic and melted butter, or buy some from the store. Either way, you’ll need to melt it in order to give the scallops a little bath before broiling. This is also where you can add any seasonings you might want to include.

Lemon: You’ll need a couple tablespoons of lemon juice for sprinkling over the scallops. You can use fresh squeezed lemon juice if you’d like, but the stuff in bottles from the grocery store is fine too.

A white plate filled with cooked scallops garnished with chopped parsley, surrounded by lemon wedges and a sprig of parsley. In the background are garlic cloves, a halved lemon, and some asparagus.

How To Make Broiled Scallops

This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

A glass bowl with melted butter and seasoning sits on a marble surface. Nearby are a halved lemon, lemon juice, a spoon, raw scallops, parsley, whole garlic cloves, and a striped kitchen towel.

A metal colander filled with raw scallops sits on a marble counter. Nearby are lemon halves, a bowl of melted butter, parsley, garlic cloves, and a white kitchen towel with a black stripe.

Turn broiler on (400-500°F) and move the oven rack to the middle of the oven.
Mix melted butter and garlic in a medium bowl. Rinse and dry the scallops. Put them into the garlic butter and gently stir them around until they’re coated.
Spread scallops out on pan and sprinkle them with lemon juice.
Broil for 6-10 minutes, watching closely. Remove from oven and flip as soon as they turn golden brown.
Broil for another 4-6 minutes until the other side is golden brown. Serve warm.

Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Broiled Scallops

Don’t Overcook: One of the worst things you can do to any seafood is overcook it, and this is especially true of scallops. A perfectly cooked scallop should basically melt in your mouth, but an overcooked one will be rubbery and tough. Considering the price of scallops, especially if you bought them fresh, you really don’t want to end up with inedible lumps.

Pay Attention: The garlic butter in this recipe will help to keep the scallops from getting overdone, but you’ll still need to pay very close attention to your scallops as they broil. Watch for the flesh of the scallops to turn opaque, and for both sides to be golden brown. If your garlic butter starts to burn, you’ve probably kept your scallops under the broiler for too long.

A close-up of a fork holding a cooked scallop garnished with herbs. In the blurred background, theres a plate with more scallops, asparagus, and lemon wedges, set against a white tiled wall.

Storage Instructions

Because scallops are so temperature sensitive, they really need to be eaten as soon as they’re cooked. They don’t tend to store or reheat well.

More Delicious Recipes

Looking for more tasty Seafood recipes?

Try some Garlic Butter Salmon to serve with your scallops.

Add some Bacon Wrapped Shrimp to your menu for the week.

Or make some fish and chips using The Best Beer Batter Recipe.

There you go, everyone. An easy way to cook scallops that will melt in your mouth. Try out this recipe and let me know how it works out for you.

Happy Cooking!

Karlynn