With sous vide, you’ll never over- or under-cook your scallops again. The time and temp for sous vide scallops is very similar to other seafoods: 122 degrees for 20-45 minutes and can be used with fresh or frozen scallops. Top the scallops with brown butter sauce and serve with a side of sous vide asparagus.
Scallops are one of my favorite things to make sous vide because they make me feel FANCY. I can make the most tender, perfectly seared scallops perfectly whenever I want to thanks to the magic of sous vide cooking. In fact, I feel this way about most sous vide seafood recipes. That’s why I included plenty of them in my cookbooks, too!
Fun fact: did you know I worked at a seafood startup as a digital marketing specialist for 2 years? During that time, I got to learn so much about what to look for when purchasing seafood so I could help our customers.
When it comes to seafood, don’t be afraid of frozen! Freezing seafood is one of the best ways to keep it fresh, especially because it usually has a long way to travel.
I prefer to purchase scallops from a local seafood shop I know well, but Costco can have a great selection, too. Things I look for:
- “Day Boat” – this means it was caught on a boat that comes back to shore each day to offload, rather than staying out for days at a time and keeping seafood in a hold.
- Bottom culture or off bottom culture farmed is best when it comes to sustainability, but US or Canadian wild caught is okay, too. Head to Seafood Watch to learn more about sustainability and scallops!
- Look for “dry-packed” – this means there are fewer additives and they’ll exude less liquid when cooking.
The time and temp for these sous vide scallops are very similar to other seafoods: 122 degrees for 20-45 minutes. I like 30 minutes on the nose.
If you’re cooking the scallops from frozen, go to 45 minutes.
This recipe will teach you the basic method for sous vide scallops, and you can use whatever sauce and seasoning sounds yummy, but I did make my suggestion for a traditional lemon brown butter sauce.
Looking for something delicious to serve with your scallops? How about some sous vide asparagus and easy crusty bread?
Get the Recipe:
Sous Vide Scallops (Fresh or Frozen)
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound scallops
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 tbsp cold butter, divided
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat your water bath using an immersion circulator to 122 degrees F.
- Season the scallops lightly with kosher salt and pepper.
- Add scallops to a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal. They should be in a single layer, this is important. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, use another air removal method.
- Add the bag to the preheated water bath and secure with sous vide magnets if you have them to keep them from floating. Cook for 25-45 minutes. I usually do 30 minutes for fresh and 45 minutes for frozen.
- Remove the bag from the bath and pat the scallops thoroughly dry with paper towels.
- Heat a cast iron or stainless steel skillet over high heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter and melt. Sear the scallops quickly (less than 30 seconds!) on each side until golden brown. Remove to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add remaining butter. Cook until melted and beginning to brown. Turn off heat and add lemon juice and parsley. Taste and add salt if necessary.
- Pour the sauce over the scallops and serve.
I have a bag of frozen scallops. They are literally bunched up together in the bottom of the bag. Can I still cook them frozen? I understand food needs to be in a single layer. Please advise
Thank you
delish! one note…I would not finish a sauce in a cast iron pan with lemon
Fast, easy, delicious. One note: don’t salt the scallops prior to Sous vide, it will suck the juices out of them. Instead salt (and pepper) generously after patting dry and before searing.