Seared Scallops with Bacon in Lemon Butter Sauce – this dish tastes just like bacon wrapped scallops but is much easier to make! Only 30 minutes from start to finish! Gluten free, low-carb, keto friendly recipe.
Ingredients you need for seared scallops with bacon
- bacon , uncooked, chopped
- scallops
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- white wine or just use lemon juice
- butter , softened but not melted
- parsley , fresh, chopped
The key to making perfect pan seared scallops is to cook them really fast on a really hot skillet. After you’ve cooked the scallops, you should immediately remove them from the skillet. This ensures that the scallops retain their nice golden crust and are not overcooked. Below are the guidelines you should follow when you pan sear the scallops.
How to sear scallops to perfection
- If using frozen scallops, thaw them completely.
- Bring scallops to room temperature before cooking. That means let them sit on a plate on the counter top for about 30 minutes before cooking.
- After the scallops reached room temperature, blot each scallop with paper towels to remove extra water.
- Sprinkle each scallop with a dash of salt.
- Use a large, non-stick skillet (I used stainless steel skillet which works well for me as non-stick).
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in this skillet on high heat until hot but not smoking. Oil should be rolling easily around the skillet when you move it around, and it should not smoke.
- Immediately, add scallops without overcrowding the pan.
- Sear on one side for about 3-4 minutes until the bottom is nice golden color. Don’t move the scallops around the pan in the beginning.
- Flip the scallops over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Remove the skillet from heat and transfer the scallops to the plate immediately.
- Important note: Don’t let the scallops sit in the hot skillet, off heat, because they will start to steam, lose their crust and harden up.
These seared scallops with bacon in lemon butter sauce are amazing! Keep in mind, that what you see in the photo above is 1 pound worth of scallops, and, after they are cooked, it’s only enough to be served as a small portion. Scallops do cook down a lot, so keep this in mind when planning your dinner. Below I have some recommendations about what side dishes to serve with scallops.
What to serve with scallops:
Because these pan-seared scallops have bacon and lemon butter sauce, the best side dishes would be something green, such as sautéed spinach, roasted asparagus, or mashed potatoes. Easy and plain pasta dishes will work too, like angel hair pasta with garlic and olive oil. Below are some other suggestions:
Asiago Bacon and Garlic Roasted Asparagus
Other amazing scallop recipes:
Seared Scallop with Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce – in this recipe, scallops are seared in a skillet to a nice golden crust and then coated with a creamy sauce made with garlic, lemon juice, and capers.
Scallops with Creamy Mozzarella Pasta – eat your scallops with pasta! Scallops are combined with penne pasta and creamy sauce made with Mozzarella cheese, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and red pepper flakes.
This is one of the easiest scallop recipes you’ll ever try! And, if you love bacon – go for it! The buttery sauce with lemon and bacon is super yummy – you’ll enjoy every bit of it!
Seared Scallops with Bacon in Lemon Butter Sauce - this dish tastes just like bacon wrapped scallops but is much easier to make! Only 30 minutes from start to finish! Gluten free, low-carb, keto friendly recipe.
- 5 strips bacon , uncooked, chopped
- 1 lb scallops
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons wine or use lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter , softened but not melted
- 2 tablespoons parsley , fresh, chopped
- Cook chopped bacon in a skillet until cooked.
- Dry scallops with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the large skillet until very hot, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and immediately add scallops. Sear on high heat, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from the skillet.
- Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice (and maybe 2 more tablespoons white wine). Scrape the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat, add softened butter (but not melted) - to create a creamy sauce. Add chopped bacon. Add back seared scallops. Top with chopped parsley
So delicious! It paired well with greek seasoned brussel sprouts and roasted yellow potatoes!
So happy you liked it! Your side dishes sound delicious!
Made this tonight. It was tasty. Served with roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic, and the sauce was good on them top. I’ll make it again.
So glad you liked it! Serving scallops with roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic sounds delicious! What a great choice of a side dish!
I really wish you would’ve specified if you added the bacon fat to the olive oil or not…
I drain the fat from the bacon from the skillet. Then I add olive oil.
This was REALLY yummy! I added some Patagonia shrimp but otherwise followed the recipe. It was a huge hit with my boyfriend and my dad. I may try searing the scallops for about 2 minutes on each side next time as I like scallops a little less cooked. Thank you!!
I am very glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your feedback!
Made as an appetizer for Christmas dinner and this received such rave reviews that we have since made for both New Year’s Eve and Valentines dinner. Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome! So glad this recipe was a success, and that you’ve made it 3 times now! Love reading comments like yours!
Absolutely amazing!! The taste of the butter/lemon/wine sauce was so smooth and delicious!! Such an easy recipe to prepare – thanks!!!
Stephanie, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind comment!
do u drain the bacon fat or include it with olive oil to sear scallops? looks delish
I drain the fat from the bacon from the skillet. Then I add olive oil.
could you cook in the bacon fat instead? Or does this not work.
I prefer to sear the scallops in olive oil, not in the bacon fat.
OMG!! Just made this for my wife and after a Sunday with two toddlers and it was equally easy as it was DELICIOUS, so simple but the flavors were big. She loved them, and I am now a bigger fan of scallops. Thank you!
I am so happy you tried this recipe and enjoyed! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a wonderful comment!
I made your scallops for Christmas dinner , We had them as our appetizer. I made them exactly as written, and they were absolutely delicious! Even our very picky daughter loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe. My husband is talking about them as I’m writing this, he wants them for New Years Eve, hahaha
Linda, I love your comment! So happy you enjoyed this scallop recipe. What a great idea to make this as an appetizer for Christmas and/or New Year’s Eve!
This will be our early Christmas dinner tonight Julia. Thanks!
Just one quick question- Am I using a different pan to cook the scallops or am I adding oil to the bacon grease to cook the scallops.
It depends on a skillet. If it’s a non-stick or cast iron skillet – then use the same one. If it’s a stainless steel skillet, I would either wash the skillet or use a different one. The reason is that you want to use the skillet that doesn’t have anything stuck on it (like bacon bits), otherwise the scallops might stick to the bottom of the skillet.
This was delicious! I’ll definitely make this again. I did substitute the bacon for chorizo though and it was still very nice..btw I’m not a dab hand in the kitchen at all but was still very easy 🙂
Julie, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Using chorizo in place of bacon sounds delicious! What a great idea!
Recipe was super easy to follow! The whole family helped out! Paired it with some garlic roasted brussel sprouts and some rainbow potatoes! My kids and wife loved it!! Thank you!! ❤️❤️