Air Fryer Scallops with Citrus Butter

These air fryer scallops are tender and buttery with a simple salt and pepper seasoning and topped with a vanilla infused citrus butter! You’ll love this recipe as an appetizer or part of a main meal! 

The air fryer is a great way to prepare sea scallops and ensure they are perfectly cooked! It’s quick, easy and a little less messy than cooking them on the stovetop!

While I cook scallops in the air fryer as an appetizer for dinner parties, you can also serve them with risotto, pasta or salad, or even pair them with this sous vide filet mignon for a special date night!

And, can we talk about the citrus butter?! It’s a rich and flavorful sauce that adds an amazing buttery texture to the scallops. If you’re looking to take your scallops to the next level, this sauce is what you need!

Once you’ve tried these golden brown air fryer scallops, I also highly recommend these sous vide scallops with lemon butter sauce, these broiled scallops and this delicious scallop scampi! 

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And, if you want to try other air fryer recipes, here are a few of our favorites lately:

Why this air fryer scallops recipe works

• Scallops are an impressive appetizer for a dinner party and making them in the air fryer is super quick and easy! 
• They have a cook time of less than 20 minutes to make this simple scallop recipe.
• The citrus butter is sweet, tangy and buttery! You’ll seriously want to serve this butter sauce with all of your seafood dishes!
• This easy recipe is restaurant quality but making it at home means it’s much less expensive and works great as an appetizer, dinner or even a fancy lunch.

What is beurre blanc?

Beurre blanc is an emulsified French butter sauce. It has a sweet and tangy flavor thanks to the addition of white wine and vinegar and a rich buttery taste. You’ll often see it served with seafood but it also goes well with chicken or vegetables. The citrus butter for this recipe is basically a beurre blanc made with grapefruit.

What are sea scallops?

Sea scallops are large scallops that have been harvested from cold, deep waters. They differ from bay scallops which can be three times smaller, and normally found in shallow bays or estuaries.

Ingredients

For the full list of ingredients and quantities, please see the recipe card below.

You’ll need 1 pound of sea scallops for this recipe. I usually go with fresh but you can also use frozen as long as you defrost them first and pat them dry. While not optimal, you can use bay scallops as a substitute as well.

You may also want to opt for dry scallops, which are natural scallops with no chemical additives. This differs from wet scallops, which have been treated with a phosphate solution.

The citrus butter ingredients include grapefruit juice, white wine, champagne vinegar, vanilla bean, salt and butter.

For the white wine, you’ll want a dry, crisp white wine like a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. Avoid wines marketed as cooking wines.

If you don’t have champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar will also work.

To add a hint of vanilla, you’ll need a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean. If you don’t have beans, you can substitute ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Variations and substitutions

• You can substitute ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract for the vanilla beans.
• Use a white wine vinegar in place of the champagne vinegar if preferred.
• Instead of grapefruit juice, you can use lemon juice, lime, orange, or any other citrus juice to make the butter with.
• Use any type of seasonings to season scallops such as lemon pepper seasoning, homemade creole seasoning or Cajun seasoning, or even some Old Bay seasoning. Or just keep the simple salt and pepper the recipe calls for.
• Add 1 minced garlic clove or ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder into the citrus butter ingredients for a garlicky flavor. You can just sauté the garlic in melted butter and use that as a garlic butter sauce.
• You can also omit the citrus butter in its entirety and serve them with this eel sauce, cilantro chimichurri sauce or this seafood butter sauce.

Step by step instructions to make air fryer scallops

1. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Lightly spray the air fryer basket with oil. Place the scallops in an air fryer basket in a single layer and lightly spray with oil. Make sure to use a preheated air fryer to 400 degrees if your model requires it.

3. Cook the scallops at 400°F degrees for 6 minutes, tossing at the 3 minute mark through to ensure they're not sticking. Scallops are cooked to 120°F to 125°F for the best results. Avoid overcooking them.

Serve drizzled with the vanilla grapefruit beurre blanc (see below) and a few grapefruit segments (optional). You can also serve with air fryer garlic bread or air fryer baby potatoes.

How to make citrus butter

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the butter, in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.

2. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until the mixture has reduced to about 1 ½ tablespoons of liquid.

3. Turn down the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until each tablespoon is melted.

Serve over top of scallops.

Expert tips to cook scallops

1. The scallops have a simple salt and pepper seasoning. While you can add more or different seasonings, be careful not to overdo it. You want the flavor of the citrus butter to shine through!
2. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels before seasoning them.
3. For even cooking and browned outsides, air fry the scallops in a single layer. Depending on the size of your air fryer, this may require more than one batch.
4. To make sure the scallops don’t stick onto the air fryer basket, lightly spray the basket and scallops with oil.
5. When using oil, make sure you use a good quality spray oil (not cooking spray) to avoid damaging the air fryer. I like to use an oil sprayer and fill it with my favorite oil.
6. I recommend removing the side muscle on your scallops before cooking as it can be tough. This is just a little flap of tissue that can easily be torn away.
7. If your air fryer model requires preheating, you should preheat it before adding the scallops.
8. Different air fryer brands and models will vary slightly, so you may need to adjust the temperature and air frying time slightly. 
9. When making the sauce, make sure the butter is cold as you add it slowly. This will ensure stable emulsion for the sauce.
10. You’ll also want to remove the sauce from the heat as soon as it’s done. Overheating the sauce can break it (cause it to split or separate).

What to serve with scallops

• To make it a meal, we love it with this Instant Pot wild rice or dirty rice.
• They’re also perfect with black truffle risotto or to add to this creamy salmon pasta.
• For side veggies, scallops are great with sous vide broccoli, air fryer carrots or Instant Pot Brussels sprouts.
• If you want to pair it with another protein, try these Instant Pot beef short ribs.
• For dessert, I highly recommend this sous vide creme brûlée!

Common questions

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