Broiled Scallops

5 from 7 votes

Quick, easy and delicious, these Broiled Scallops with browned butter are sweet and tender and require just 6 ingredients!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Resting Time30

Total Time55

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 144kcal

Season the scallops with salt and pepper and let them sit for 30 minutes.
Heat a broiler over high heat.
Add the butter to a skillet and cook over medium-low heat, until the butter starts to brown (about 5 minutes). If it starts to smoke or burn, turn the heat down.
Add the bay leaf and vanilla and continue to cook until butter solids become a darker caramel brown color. Remove from heat.
While the butter cooks, place the scallops on a rack on a baking sheet and place under the broiler.
Cook for 5-10 minutes, until opaque and slightly firm to the touch. Serve with the browned butter.

Broiled scallops will brown but they won’t get golden brown like they do with pan searing.
You don’t need to flip the scallops, but if you’re not using a rack, you’ll need to flip them halfway through cooking.
For easy clean up, line your baking sheet with foil.
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.
Scallops cook quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on them as they broil.
The cooking time is 5-10 minutes. Larger scallops will take closer to 10 minutes.
When browning the butter, be careful that it doesn’t start to smoke or burn. If it does, turn down the heat.