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Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Caper Sauce
4.3 from 9 votes

Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Caper Sauce

Perfectly pan seared scallops are served in a delicious white wine lemon caper sauce! This special occasion recipe is so easy and comes together in less than 20 minutes! Just be sure not to overcook your scallops, only cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds or so per side!

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings: 4 Servings
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the Lemon Caper Sauce:
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter 57 grams
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/3 cup white wine 74 grams
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 capers 1/2 tablespoon, drained and rinsed
  • 2 lemon juice 28 grams
  • 1 Tablespoon parsley fresh, finely chopped
For the Seared Scallops:
  • 1 pound sea scallops patted dry
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • sea salt freshly ground
  • black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

For the Lemon Caper Sauce:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Melt butter in a large skillet. Continue cooking, over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter becomes a deep golden brown color. 
  2. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, and lemon zest and cook for 1 minute, or until the garlic is fragrant. 
  3. Pour in the white wine and sugar and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5 minutes, then toss in the capers and cook for another 2 minutes. 
  4. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and add more salt/pepper/or sugar, to taste. Set aside until needed. 
For the Seared Scallops:
  1. Remove the tiny side muscle from the scallops (if they have the). Rinse scallops with cold water and pat dry with a few sheets of paper towels. You want to make sure you get as much moisture out of them as possible. Set aside on a paper towel. 
  2. Add the butter and oil to a large sauté pan over high heat. 
  3. While the pan heats up, generously salt and pepper the scallops.
  4. Once the pan begins to lightly smoke, gently add the scallops into the pan, making sure they are not touching.
  5. Sear scallops for 1 and 1/2 minutes then gently flip and cook for another 1 and 1/2 minutes, or until both sides are golden brown. Don't touch them at all while they're searing.
  6. Top with sauce and serve at once!