My father had never eaten scallops before this year, but he was so inspired by this scallop dish prepared by his friends Fred and Patricia, he has spent much of the last month experimenting with them. What I love about this recipe is it’s so easy to make and it cooks up so quickly. We used the larger sea scallops for this version, but dad remembers Patricia using bay scallops when she made them for him. The scallops are essentially baked in a white sauce of butter, white wine, and flour, with a bread crumb topping.
Baked Scallops Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs scallops (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- Salt
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, separated 3 Tbsp and 3 Tbsp
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 2 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
Method
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Place scallops in a medium sauté pan. Add the wine and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 4 minutes. No longer. Remove the scallops to a 1.5 quart casserole baking dish. Pour off the cooking liquid to a separate container and reserve.
2 Heat 3 Tbsp butter in the sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until wilted, a couple minutes.
3 Slowly sprinkle the flour and add the cooking liquid over the butter onion mixture, whisking vigorously while you do so. As soon as the sauce is thickened, add it to the scallops in the casserole baking dish. Stir to fully incorporate the scallops into the sauce.
4 Sprinkle bread crumbs over the scallops and dot with the remaining 3 Tbsp butter. Bake in the oven at 400°F until bubbly and brown, approximately 15 minutes.
Serve with lemon slices.
Yield: Serves 6.
Thanks for the link, Elise. These scallops look good, too, in their lovely wine sauce
Joanna
Scallops are a staple here in New England. When I first moved to Boston from New York, we went to the famous Union Oyster House for lunch one day. My husband ordered scallops, pronounced in the usual way, with a very flat “A” — SCALL ups. The waiter corrected him: SKOLL ups is how it’s pronounced here. Now we know!
Lydia’s so right. When you live in New England, scallops are everywhere, along with fish and chips and clam chowdah. In fact, my brother from RI is coming to visit this weekend, and I just bought scallops for him. They have always been his favorite. I’m going to pan sear them and serve them atop of a warm frisee salad. (New Englanders also love their bitter salad greens.) I’m so glad your Dad discovered the sensational scallop!
Scallops, how I love you. New England, how I miss living in you, with your wealth of scallops and your indian pudding.
I usually pan-sear mine. Baking never occurred to me, since they cook so quickly. But I’m a sucker for anything with butter and wine!
Oooooooooh, I love scallops too any which way they’re cooked. Elise, have your dad try wrapping the larger ones in half slices of bacon, brush with a teriyaki-type glaze and broil them. Served with rice and fresh steamed veggies, they are oh so good!
Yep, I was dreaming of bacon-wrapped scallops just last night. Yum… ~Elise
Sounds like Coquilles St. Jacques, without the parsley, cream and cheese~
Elise, I much prefer bay scallops and the cooking time seems too long for bays – any thoughts on how long to cook these if using bay scallops?
TIA…
In Peru we absolutely love baked scallops, but instead of bread crumbs we use parmesan cheese, and we bake them in the half shell.. delicious and beatiful!
Ps. Enjoy with some lime drops :)
I honestly have no intention of trying this recipe, but I wanted to compliment the wisp of steam captured in the picture. Cooool.
Yum! This recipe looks perfect for a cold day.
YUM! I love scallops, but the only way I ever make them is sauteeing them in olive oil — this looks great!
A.G. — I was thinking it sounded like coquilles st jacques too! something about the photo looks so creamy and delicious!
I just made scallops last week (pan-seared with a lemon-wine-butter sauce), but this recipe looks yummy too! :) And I especially love the large sea scallops. I think I will make this recipe soon! Thanks!
Those look delicious and easy to do, I haven’t had scallops in a while and this looks like a great recipe to get reacquainted with!
Can never eat enough scallops and this looks yummy … the essence of the delicate scallop still retained!
I love scallops but rarely cook them. This is getting printed out to try soon!
Lucky girl that I am, I have a neighbour who dives off the west coast of Scotland on the weekends. He often brings home lots of hand picked scallops and guess who he shares them with? :)
Bookmarking this now.
Not to sound stupid, but what’s the difference between sea and bay scallops? And what bay? Some bays I’ve seen I’m not sure I’d like to eat anything out of.
I’ve seen them both on a menus, and it seems like their bayness or seaness is used as a selling point. But they both can’t be better.
So what’s the deal?
(and I’ll second the complement on the photo. It looks professional. Mine look like crap, and it’s a real chore to get them up to that standard.)
Wow these look fabulous! I’ve never had baked scallops before but this is a recipe that I will have to try.
I made these tonight, and they were incredible! So very, very tasty. Key: use a good wine, people — it will be so worth it (and there will be plenty left to drink…)!
I have made scallops many times and they are always much better when breadcrumbs are used. Adds more complex texture.
I made this recipe last week when I had a few guests for a casual weeknight dinner. The scallops were tender and the sauce – to die for! I received rave reviews and thoroughly enjoyed it myself! It was quick and easy to prepare, yet tasted fancy and decadent!
Thanks so much for the recipe. I will be using it for sure. Funny thing, I don’t like fish BUT I do like scallops. Weird eh? Anyway, I look forward to these tasty little nuggets.
Just so everyone knows, in French, a “coquille St. Jacques” IS a scallop.
I actually didn’t know there was a dish called “coquille St. Jacques.” The things you learn on the internet :)
I’ve always been kind of afraid to cook scallops (despite loving them), but your recipe may just be something that I can’t let pass by…
Anyway, I’d also like to comment on your photo — it’s lovely! That wisp of steam just makes it seem so much more real.
Hi Elise, I made this to go with the spaghetti with pesto sauce! That was a good meal! Thank you for the recipes.
Just a question: the scallops shrunk to half their sizes after the simmering in wine, although I followed the timing exactly. I cut down the recipe as only using a quarter of the scallops, is that why?
It’s an adequate recipe but I would not cook again. It does not burst with flavor.
I’ve never taken the time to go back and review a recipe that I’ve made, but as I’m sitting here devouring the leftovers from this baked scallops recipe, I have to say that this is one of the tastiest things I have ever cooked (and I cook a lot…although this is the first time I’ve made scallops)!!! The only change I made is that, instead of bread crumbs, I used ritz cracker crumbs and I mixed them with the melted butter and spread on top, rather than spreading the crumbs dry and dotting with butter. YUMMY! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
I tried this recipe this week and it was so delicious! The scallops came out perfectly and the sauce was absolutely heavenly. Thank you for this recipe!
This is a great recipe, the scallops came out perfect!
This was my first time cooking scallops. I’m very pleased with how descriptive the recipe was, it made preperation and cooking a breeze. I’m new to cooking seafood, my wife loves seafood and loved these scallops. Thank You!
tried this tonight after reviewing several recipes for baked scallops. this is fantastic–approaching restaurant quality. the sauce was so easy to make- very flavorful and rich. I did add finely diced panchetta to the onions and used crushed multigrain club crackers to top the scallops–also added a bit of chopped parsley. served this with a big salad and wine –a great supper. this recipe will go into my “reliable” file!!!!!
Try smashed ritz crackers and melted butter as the bread crumb topping…