You'll love this refreshing Sea Scallop Salad! It features fresh lettuce topped with baked breaded scallops, ribbons of lemon zest and a delicious lemon vinaigrette!
This salad with scallops looks gorgeous and tastes fabulous! Whether you cook scallops just for this dish or use leftover, baked scallops, you have to try this!
You can serve it as a warm scallop salad or a cold scallop salad. I love it either way!
Salad ingredients
Lettuce: Dark, leafy greens like spinach are extra-tasty here, but romaine or butter lettuce also work well. Use what you have!
Breaded scallops ingredients
Sea Scallops: Sea scallops are larger than bay scallops and have a meatier, chewier texture. I prefer using sea scallops in this salad, but bay scallops work if you cook them for less time.
Don't use packages of "scallop pieces" because they come in all different sizes and don't cook evenly.
Bread Crumbs: I recommend starting with plain bread crumbs and seasoning them yourself. Use store-bought plain ones and season them as directed, or make homemade Italian bread crumbs and omit the cheese.
If you only have store-bought Italian-style bread crumbs, which are already seasoned, taste them to see if you want to add anything.
Dressing ingredients
Lemon Vinaigrette without Mustard works perfectly here. You just need four simple ingredients!
Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice works best. You'll need about two lemons, and you'll use the zest on the salad.
Vinegar: White balsamic vinegar (affiliate link) works best here, with its slightly fruity sweetness. If you need a substitute, you could try distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar to maintain the dressing's beautiful yellow color.
Olive Oil: A mild-tasting olive oil works best here, but use your favorite kind.
How to make it
See the card at the end of this post for the full recipe, but here's an overview.
Make the scallops
- Combine plain bread crumbs and seasonings.
- Pour the bread crumbs over wet scallops and toss to coat them evenly.
- Place the breaded scallops on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake just until cooked through.
Make the dressing for scallop salad
- Add the lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar and salt to a small bowl or container.
- Whisk to combine it or place a lid on it and shake it up until mixed.
You also could try using this refreshing Lemon-Infused Olive Oil or this delicious Orange Vinaigrette.
Assemble the salad
- Top the lettuce with lemon zest and baked scallops.
- Drizzle some lemon vinaigrette on each serving and toss to combine.
Recipe tips
- To thaw frozen scallops, leave them in the refrigerator overnight in their packaging, placed on a dish to prevent leaking onto your shelves. Then run the scallops under cool water for a few minutes the next day.
- To prevent soggy scallops, use a small amount of oil during baking. You can always drizzle on extra oil after the scallops are cooked.
- If you plan to add lemon zest to your salad as recommended, zest the lemons before juicing them for the dressing. It's easier to zest whole lemons than ones that have been cut and squeezed.
What to serve with it
You can make a meal of this with some nice Italian rolls or rosemary focaccia and fresh fruit on the side. It's the perfect recipe for Lent or lunch with friends!
If you want to serve a second dish with it, consider pasta with ceci beans or pasta with garlic and oil sauce.
More recipes like this
- Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges and Pancetta
- Southwest Salad with Catalina Dressing
- 50 BEST Spinach Recipes
- Broiled Scallops with Parmesan
- Jumbo Fried Shrimp
- Italian Fried Calamari
Enjoy!
If you try this Sea Scallop Salad recipe, please leave a comment and a rating!
Sea Scallop Salad
Ingredients
Scallops
- 1 pound sea scallops, thawed See notes if using bay scallops. Don't use "scallop pieces."
- ¼ cup plain bread crumbs (If you only have seasoned bread crumbs, don't add the seasonings listed next unless you think they need something.)
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon dried basil
- 1/16 teaspoon salt (a little pinch)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Salad
- lemon zest from two lemons
- 12 ounces lettuce (such as spinach, Romaine or leafy greens)
Instructions
For the Scallops
- If the scallops are frozen, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Then, place the scallops in a colander in the sink and run cold water over them for 4-5 minutes until completely thawed.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. (For convection, set it to 450 degrees, which will reduce it to 425.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease it with cooking spray.
- In a fine mesh strainer, lightly rinse the thawed scallops under a thin stream of cold water, being careful to remove any specks of sand by gently scraping them off with a brush or your nail. It's important to closely examine each scallop to look for sand. Remove the side muscle from each scallop, as it will be tough.
- Add the bread crumbs to a small mixing bowl. Whisk in the garlic powder, pepper, dried basil and salt.
- Leave the raw scallops wet in the colander. Pour the bread crumbs over them. Use your hands to gently mix the scallops to coat them evenly with the crumbs.
- Place the breaded scallops in a single layer on the baking sheet, drizzle on the ½ tablespoon of olive oil and bake them on the center rack of the oven for 13-16 minutes. The scallops are done when the breading is golden brown and when you cut into a scallop, the center is no longer pink and shiny, but is white. Be careful not to overcook them, or they will become tough and rubbery.
Prepare the Zest & Lemon Vinaigrette
- While the scallops are baking, rinse the lemons and pat them dry. If you want to use lemon zest on your salad, zest the lemons before cutting and juicing them. Use a lemon zester or vegetable peeler to scrape thin ribbons of lemon zest from the lemons and set it aside.
- Cut each lemon in half. Squeeze the lemon halves until you have ¼ cup of lemon juice. Add the juice to a small mason jar or container with a lid.
- Add the olive oil, vinegar and salt. Whisk to combine or put the lid on the jar and shake it to combine.
Assemble the Salad
- To serve, plate the lettuce and top with the warm, breaded scallops, dressing and lemon zest. Store any leftover scallops in the refrigerator for up to four days. You can serve leftover scallops cold on the salad or briefly reheat them in the microwave.
- Store any leftover lemon dressing in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week. You'll need to run the container under very warm water and whisk the vinaigrette to emulsify it again.
Notes
Nutrition
(Recipe Source: Cooking with Mamma C. Originally published on March 7, 2015 and updated now with new photos and additional information.)
Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says
I would never have thought to bread scallops, what a great idea! This looks like such a simple and delicious salad...my kind of food!
Mamma C says
Breading the scallops is my go-to way of preparing them, because it's just so easy and tasty. I know you love salads, Denise, and hope you give this one a try!
Mamma C says
I don't think I've ever tried oysters. I'm a seafood lover too, though, so I'll have to check out your recipes!
Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser says
Hi Andrea, the other one is Crab and Sea Scallop au Gratin. I may have way too much going on at the moment especially when I can not remember what recipes I submitted to TK that posted. HA! Anyway I love bay scallops too. Hoping you are having a good week and that the weather is warming up to melt all that snow!!!
Mamma C says
Thanks, Cheryl. They all sound delish! I saved them to my recipe box. 🙂 The snow is thawing, and it rained today, so it's a bit warmer but kind of foggy.
Mamma C says
I hope you try it sometime, Kathy!
Tekesha says
Those lemon peels look like they take this right over the top! I never understood adding zest or peels to dishes until I read somewhere that they add more lemon flavor without the sourness/acidity of adding more lemon juice. So brilliant!
Mamma C says
I guess technically the ribbons are still called zest if there's no white pith (I just corrected that in my post), but you're absolutely right that they add flavor without bitterness. Now, I want to add them to everything, lol!
Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine says
This looks wonderful and you're right, so simple. I'm always a little afraid to cook scallops for fear I'll under or over cook them but you make it sound super easy!
Mamma C says
Scallops are really easy and fast, once you remove any sand. I just check them at regular intervals in the oven to make sure I'm not overcooking them, and I've never had a problem. 🙂