Creamy Tuscan Scallops are oh so rich and creamy. Crispy, seared, melt-in-your-mouth juicy scallops in a buttery cream sauce filled with garlic, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese!
The entire family loves this easy to make Scallops recipe. Cheaper than going out to a restaurant and just as good as chef made scallops, you will love our Creamy Tuscan Scallops! Serve with pasta or buttery mashed cauliflower for a KETO meal.
Nothing melts in your mouth quite like tender-crisp and buttery scallops. The creamy sauce is to die for!
SCALLOPS
What a recipe! You have all been writing in telling us how much you love our Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Shrimp and our Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Salmon. Well, this recipe is just one of the many ways we love our scallops!
Most people are extremely intimidated to cook scallops, especially because of their high price tag. Something you don’t want to spend so much money on only to have it go completely wrong. But that’s also the beautiful thing about scallops. They are a luxury and a feeling of fine dining washes over you when you have a bowl full of Creamy Tuscan Scallops with a glass of your favourite wine in hand.
Plus, I had to share this one with you in time for Christmas and New Years Eve menu plans!
WHAT SCALLOPS TO USE
Try to find scallops without the bright orange or coral coloured crescent-shaped part still attached (or roe). The orange part can be a little bitter, however some people do like this part of the scallop. It’s personal preference. If you can only find them with the roe attached, you can pull it off and discard it. If you have bought whole scallops, you will need to remove that and the muscle that attaches the scallop to the shell. For this reason, we buy frozen wild caught scallops without the roe.
THAW SCALLOPS
- Thaw scallops in a bowl of cold water for about 10-20 minutes until thawed completely.
- Alternatively, thaw them in a bowl overnight in the refrigerator.
- If your scallops are still frozen in the centres, arrange them on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and let them thaw out on your kitchen bench 15 minutes before cooking.
- Make sure to thoroughly pat them dry with a couple more sheets of paper towel to absorb all the liquid before searing. If too much liquid is left in scallops, they will release too much water while cooking and simmer in your pan instead of sear.
HOW TO COOK CREAMY TUSCAN SCALLOPS
Once they’re thawed, dried and ready to go, you’re going to sear them first in a hot pan.
- Heat an oiled skillet or pan until it’s sizzling. Key step right here. You want them to sizzle and crisp to a golden colour on the outside.
- The first scallop should sizzle as soon as it hits the oil. If it doesn’t, wait and let the pan continue heating before adding any more.
- Use a large pan to avoid over crowding, or cook in batches to make sure they are at least 1-inch apart.
- Sear them without moving them for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Both sides of a scallop should be seared to a perfect golden-brown ‘crust’ with the sides opaque all the way through. They should be firm to the touch, but still slightly soft with a little bounce to them.
TUSCAN CREAM SAUCE FOR SCALLOPS
THIS is the pièce de résistance! Onion gets sautéed in butter until soft; garlic follows close behind, then a splash of white wine is poured in and reduced. If you don’t want to use white wine, you can replace it with chicken broth or stock.
Make sure you start scraping any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan left over from your scallops. THIS is where all of your flavour lies.
Sun dried tomatoes release so much flavour into the sauce, while cream, wilted spinach leaves and herbs add to the mix. Add parmesan cheese to melt through the sauce to finish it off and you have a winning scallops recipe right here!
BEST SIDES
Serve our Creamy Tuscan Scallops over low carb favourites, like zoodles, cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash, or any of your favourite veggies.
For a carb loaded meal, think mashed potatoes, pasta, rice, garlic bread to soak up that cream!
WHAT WINE GOES WELL WITH THIS RECIPE?
A light Chardonnay or Pinot Gris. For a sweeter wine, Riesling or a Sparkling Moscato.
Scallop Recipes
If you love this recipe, you may love our Creamy Garlic Scallops and our Lemon Butter Scallops!
Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Scallops
Ingredients
- 28 oz scallops
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1 yellow onion small, diced
- ½ cup white wine optional
- 5 oz sun dried tomato strips in oil, drained, reserve 1 teaspoon of the jarred oil for cooking
- 1 ¾ cups heavy cream or half and half, SEE NOTES
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves washed
- ½ cup parmesan cheese fresh grated
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Thoroughly pat scallops dry with paper towels.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat until hot and sizzling. Add the scallops in a single layer without over crowding the pan (work in batches if needed).
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and fry for 2-3 minutes on one side (until a golden crust forms underneath), then flip and fry again for 2 minutes until crisp, lightly browned and cooked through (opaque). Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate.
- Melt butter in the pan. Sauté onion until soft (about 4 minutes). Add in the garlic and sauté until frangrant (30 seconds). Pour in the white wine (if using), and allow to reduce to half, while scraping any bits off of the bottom of the pan. Add the sun dried tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes to release their flavours.
- Reduce heat to low-medium heat, add the heavy cream (or half and half) and bring to a gentle simmer, while stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Add in the spinach leaves and allow to wilt in the sauce, then add in the parmesan cheese. Allow sauce to simmer for a further minute until cheese melts through the sauce.
- Stir in herbs through; take pan off the heat and add the scallops with their juices into the pan. Mix through slightly before serving.
- Serve over pasta, rice, zoodles, caulfilower mash, cauliflower rice or steamed veg.Enjoy!
Mawa says
ive made this multiple times and each time it was sooooo yummy! im making it today for my boyfriend with some pasta
Lori says
This is a definite winner. Next time I plan on using bacon or pancetta while sautéing the scallops, and add just a bit of red pepper flakes into the sauce for more zing. A great new way to enjoy scallops!
Amanda Xiao says
Big fan of scallops and this recipe is AMAZING – simple yet yummy. it’s now our family’s THE scallop recipe and sometimes I add cheese mushroom into it, tastes good too. Thanks for sharing! love your recipes!
Megan says
This was very good. We made this for our Christmas Eve dinner, served over linguine. We omitted the white wine and added a few oz of chicken broth instead. We also used a few spoonfuls of roasted red pepper bruschetta in place of the slices. The flavors were good, I just wish the sauce were a bit thicker and more velvetty, as it is very thin. Served over pasta, it was more of a “noodles in broth” situation vs a sauce. Thanks for the recipe!
Linny says
Great flavor & easy enough to put together. As great as the sauce was, it did seem to obscure the scallop flavor a bit.
Next time I’ll make 2/3 or so of the recipe o serve sauce on the sde.
Mamajoy says
Can kale be used instead of spinach? I just got home from the grocery store and realized that I forgot to buy spinach.
Karina says
Yes absolutely
Raymond Fontenova says
Absolutely Outstanding!!!!!
Made this the other night for a dinner party and it was amazing…..
The combination of the spinach, and the Sun-dried tomatoes made it all the more amazing.
Had to share the link with everyone so expect more positive feedback.
BTW – love the option for changing the number of servings.. I’m not one for exact measurements in spices but it is very handy for the key ingredients; i.e. – scallops…
Thanks again…
Victoria says
My entire family LOVES this recipe. I came across this dish on Pinterest and started at looking at the entire website. My family has been trying to eat healthy so we mostly do keto meals and this was perfect for that. We are not fans of scallops so we’ve tried this dish with chicken and salmon, and both are great sub options! My father is in love with this meal, so its become a quick family favorite.
Brandy Vassar says
Made this last night and it was a huge hit! It will be in my rotation for sure. It was easy and full of flavor! I followed the recipe with white wine and all and it was wonderful! I normally do not comment on these but this is a keeper!
Nicole says
I don’t love scallops, but my husband does. We tried this recipe over a bed of roasted spaghetti and it was delicious!
Kristina says
This was absolutely delicious! I haven’t cooked much and this was my first big undertaking after deciding to go keto. Amazing and easy to execute!
I did have one question though. It says in the nutrient breakdown that this has 36g of carbs. Am I to understand that this is the number for the entire dish or per serving?
Sam says
Looks amazing, I’m going to try it. But can I use prawns instead of scallops? I have allot of prawns left over from Christmas.
Karina says
Hi Sam, absolutely! Here is a recipe I use with prawns/shrinmp https://cafedelites.com/creamy-garlic-butter-tuscan-shrimp/