Pan-Seared Scallops & Lemon Butter Sauce
with Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Asparagus
- Milk
- Shellfish
- Fish
If you think perfectly cooked scallops are only achievable with a dinner reservation at a fancy restaurant, think again! Here, you’ll master the art of the perfect sear, cooking the scallops until they form a beautifully caramelized, golden crust. The garlic-lemon pan sauce that’s drizzled over top is also delicious swiped through bites of crème fraîche mashed potatoes and chili roasted asparagus. Our compliments to the chef… oh yeah, that’s you!
Ingredients
12 ounce
Potatoes
2 clove
Garlic
¼ ounce
Chives
1 unit
Lemon
2 tablespoon
Crème Fraîche
(Contains: Milk)
6 ounce
Asparagus
1 teaspoon
Smoked Paprika
8 ounce
Jumbo Sea Scallops
(Contains: Shellfish)
1 unit
Seafood Stock Concentrate
(Contains: Fish, Shellfish)
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
Not included in your delivery
4 teaspoon
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces. Peel garlic; finely chop half and leave remaining whole. Thinly slice chives. Zest and quarter lemon.
• Place potatoes and whole garlic in a medium pot with enough salted water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. Reserve ½ cup potato cooking liquid, then drain and return potatoes to pot. • Mash with crème fraîche and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) until smooth, adding splashes of reserved potato cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt and pepper. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• While potatoes cook, trim and discard woody bottom ends from asparagus. Toss on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of chili flakes, and salt. • Roast on middle rack until tender and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pat scallops* dry with paper towels. Season all over with half the paprika (all for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. • Heat a large drizzle of olive oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add scallops and cook until opaque and cooked through, 3-5 minutes per side. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Tent with foil to keep warm. Wipe out pan.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in same pan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and half the lemon zest (all for 4 servings). Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. • Add stock concentrate, a big squeeze of lemon juice, and ¼ cup water (1⁄3 cup for 4). Simmer until slightly reduced, 1-2 minutes. • Turn off heat; season with salt and pepper. • Stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4) and half the chives.
• Divide scallops, mashed potatoes, and asparagus between plates. Top scallops with sauce. Garnish dish with remaining chives. Serve with remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Scallops are fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145º.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The lemon-garlic butter sauce is the star — bright, rich, and delicious swiped through the creamy mashed potatoes too 🍋. Scallops that were fresh and well-formed cooked up beautifully with a golden sear.
- Ease of prep: First-time scallop cooks found the instructions clear and confidence-building; the main challenge is timing the potatoes, asparagus, and scallops so everything finishes together.
- Suggestions: Cook scallops slightly less than the maximum stated time to avoid chewiness — they can go rubbery fast. Some found the smoked paprika overpowering on the delicate scallops, so use a lighter hand if you prefer a subtler crust. A few reduced the stock concentrate by half to keep the pan sauce from tasting too salty.
- Portions: Many felt the scallop count (typically 7–8 for two) was light for a premium meal; ordering a double portion of scallops is a popular fix. Asparagus portions also ran small, especially with thin spears that shrink quickly in the oven.
- Cooking tip: If your asparagus spears are very thin, shorten the roasting time or sauté them on the stovetop instead to avoid over-crisping.
Reviews from our home cooks
Always love nearly any meal with scallops. The mashed potatoes had good texture, as did the scallops. The lemon butter sauce was very tasty. Only minor complaint is the asparagus spears were so skinny; it's more difficult to roast them to be crisp rather than limp. But their flavor was still good.
So so good! The potatoes were definitely better than usual and the sauce to go with the scallops was incredible. I'd recommend not dusting the scallops with Paprika as it just burns, but it is a great addition to the sauce you make afterwards.
Skipped the sauce packet because butter and lemon is plenty for scallops. Keeping it simple I put the potatoes and asparagus in the air fryer. Roasted potatoes are easier and better. Served with creme fraishe on the side of the potatoes topped with chives.
One of my favorite recipes. I love the easy simple sauce that I cooked the scallops in so good. I like the quick method to make the mashed potatoes
My husband doesn't like scallops much at all, but THIS had him raving!! The scallops were a good size and they seared up beautifully, nice and crisp on the outside. The mashed potatoes and asparagus were especially well-chosen sides for this meal. I will definitely order again now that I know how much he liked it!
This recipe was incredible - more scallop dishes please!! Never realized how simple it was to make scallops taste good, was blown away! (maybe not worth the upgrade price unless I have a reward/discount though...)
Very tasty and easy to make. I would have liked more asparagus so I get my daily veggies. The lemon butter sauce did not disappoint.
The scallops were very fresh and the sauce was incredibly tasty. Might want to adjust the cooking time on the asparagus when it is very thin however--it got burned, although it was still tasty.
Scallops came in pieces rather than whole scallops. Potatoes are still scarred up and not good quality. I paid EXTRA for this particular meal. The recipe for the sauce was the saving grace.
Loved this. I've always been scared to cook scallops and this helped ease my fears. Delicious and easy
