Seared Scallops with Garlic, Lemon, and Crispy Potatoes
See it adapt to allergies, servings & swaps.
Per serving 375 kcal · 18g protein · 34g carbs · 18g fat
Ingredients
- 250 g scallops (about 12 large sea scallops)
- 300 g potatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- 60 ml (¼ cup) fresh lemon juice, from about 1 lemon
- 60 ml (¼ cup) chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 10 g (about 2 tsp) butter
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper, divided
Steps
- Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Cut the potatoes into 1 cm cubes. Toss with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, ½ tsp of the salt, and ¼ tsp of the black pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes, stirring once halfway, until golden and crisp at the edges.
- While the potatoes roast, pat the scallops dry with paper towels — properly dry, on both sides. Season with the remaining ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper.
- Heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is just smoking. Lay the scallops in the pan, working in two batches if they do not fit without touching. Sear 2 minutes on the first side without moving them, until a deep golden crust forms. Flip and sear 1½ minutes on the second side. Move them to a plate.
- Turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic, minced, to the same skillet and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Pour in the lemon juice and the broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer 2–3 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about half and just coats the back of a spoon. Return the scallops to the skillet for 1 minute to warm through. Stir in the parsley and the butter, swirling the pan until the butter melts and the sauce turns glossy.
- Divide the potatoes between two plates. Put the scallops on top and spoon the sauce over both. Serve immediately.
That is the whole thing.
No technique, no special equipment. This is what every Eatsë dinner looks like — the app suggests it, scales it to your house, and writes the recipe. Two weeks free.
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Scallops cook in three and a half minutes. That is the whole thing. The potatoes take twenty-five in the oven, the sauce comes together in the pan the scallops just left, and the part everyone is nervous about is over before you have finished worrying about it.
Two rules do all the work. Pat them dry — a wet scallop steams instead of browning. Then leave them alone for the full two minutes on the first side. The crust in the photo is not a technique. It is what happens when you do not touch them.
Leftovers
- Keep leftover scallops and potatoes in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to 2 days. Do not freeze them — scallops come back rubbery.
- Bring the potatoes back in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 5 minutes and they crisp up again. Warm the scallops gently in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of broth, 2–3 minutes, and stop there. A reheated scallop is one minute away from a ruined one.
A note on the lemon
We cooked this the first time with twice the lemon juice and it was too sour to finish. One lemon is the right amount: enough to cut the butter and the browned bits, not enough to bury the scallops. If your lemon is a big one, taste the sauce before the scallops go back in.
Eatsë scales a recipe like this one to the number of people actually eating, so two portions of scallops is what lands on the list — not a pound you are trying to use up on Thursday. It builds the grocery list by aisle, and it suggests the week's meals. You still choose, and you still cook. This one just happened to be worth writing down.
More from the recipe library — the grilled lemon garlic shrimp is the same idea with a shorter cook.
Dinner, figured out.
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