These Scallops in Butter Tomato Garlic Sauce (Keto) are made with scallops, garlic, oregano, white wine, cherry tomatoes, and lemon.
It’s date night, but you don’t know what to cook. These scallops are the perfect, romantic dish to make. You need the right ingredients and the right wine. These scallops are actually cooked with a pinot Grigio, so you can’t go wrong with that. You could also pair a nice buttery chardonnay with these lemon butter scallops.
If you love this recipe, feel free to try my Bacon Wrapped Scallops or my Simple Cast Iron Scallops.
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Why you will love this recipe
Versatile: Scallops are a super versatile. They have a neutral flavor so you can add different ingredients and test them out. You can bake them, air fry them or pan sear them.
Full of flavor: The butter, red pepper flakes and oregano give the tomato sauce such a nice flavor.
Great for warm weather: I love making these scallops in the summertime. The butter, tomato and lemon give the sauce such a great flavor.
Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Scallops
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- Butter
- White wine (optional)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Parsley
- Lemon
- Olive oil
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Place the scallops on a plate with a paper towel on it and place another paper towel on the top to take away the moisture. Let them rest for 10 minutes. This will avoid steaming the scallops during cooking and will sear better. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
In a large pan, heat olive oil over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the scallops and sear until browned, 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove and put on a separate plate. If there is extra moisture on the pan, remove with a paper towel. Lower heat to medium heat. In the same skillet, add butter and wait for it to melt. Toss in garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano and squeeze half the lemon in. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Pour in the white wine then add the tomatoes and cook until they burst, around 5-7 minutes.
Shut off the heat and add the scallops back in and toss the scallops until fully coated. Garnish with parsley and squeeze lemon juice to your liking.
Hint: Do not overcook the scallops.
Substitutions
Scallops: Scallops are essential for this recipe. For best quality, go to your local fish market and ask your fishmonger when they caught the scallops.
Butter: I used salted butter but feel free to use unsalted and salt to your liking. You can also use olive oil instead of butter.
Garlic: I love using minced garlic for this recipe. You can use a shallot instead as well.
Oregano: Instead of dried oregano, you can use a combination of fresh thyme, fresh oregano and fresh rosemary.
White wine: If you do not want to use white wine, feel free to use seafood or vegetable broth instead.
Tomatoes: I love using cherry tomatoes because they burst so much delicious flavor. You can use diced tomato instead as well.
Variations
Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.
- Spicy - add more red pepper flakes if you prefer more heat.
- Deluxe - add a tiny bit of pesto at the end.
Check out these Venetian Style Scallops.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality.
Storage
This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
These Scallops in Butter Tomato Garlic Sauce (Keto) ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
Make sure to set heat to high heat and wait until it is very hot before searing the scallops.
Scallops in Butter Tomato Garlic Sauce (Keto)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These Scallops in Butter Tomato Garlic Sauce (Keto) are made with scallops, garlic, oregano, white wine, cherry tomatoes, and lemon.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound of scallops
- 3 tablespoons of salted butter
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (more if you like spice)
- ⅓ cup of white wine (like pinot Grigio)
- 2 cups of cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the scallops on a plate with a paper towel on it and place another paper towel on the top to take away the moisture. Let them rest for 10 minutes. This will avoid steaming the scallops during cooking and will sear better. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the scallops and sear until browned, 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove and put on a separate plate. If there is extra moisture on the pan, remove with a paper towel. Lower heat to medium heat.
- In the same skillet, add butter and wait for it to melt. Toss in garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano and squeeze half the lemon in. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour in the white wine then add the tomatoes and cook until they burst, around 5-7 minutes.
- Shut off the heat and add the scallops back in and toss the scallops until fully coated.
- Garnish with parsley and squeeze lemon juice to your liking.
Notes
- Keep the temperature on the highest heat when searing the scallops.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 150.7
- Sugar: 4.0 g
- Sodium: 218.5 mg
- Fat: 3.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.0 g
- Fiber: 0.0 g
- Protein: 22.5 g
- Cholesterol: 48.8 mg
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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