10 Minute Pan Seared Thai Chili Scallops Recipe (2024)

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This 10-minute pan seared Thai Chili scallop’s recipe is the secret to perfect pan seared scallops in a Thai chili sauce. Bursting with lemon and Thai basil flavor for a Thai Restaurant quality scallop dinner in under 15 minutes from fridge to plate!

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10 Minute Pan Seared Thai Chili Scallops

If you’re looking for a hearty, delicious, and restaurant-quality Thai Seafood dinner, these Thai Chili Scallops are the perfect easy and impressive meal – they cook in under 10 minutes (with a sauce!!), are bursting with flavor without any hard to find ingredients, and make you look like a pro in the kitchen, regardless of cooking experience.

This Thai scallop dinner can go from the fridge to the plate in just under 15 minutes – and is perfect for dinner parties, romantic evenings, or just a quick filling meal.

To Make This Thai Chili Scallops Recipe, You’ll Need:

This recipe is insanely easy make, start by assembling the following ingredients:

• Butter – I prefer grass fed butter for the best flavor, butter add a rich fat that will be the base of the sauce.
• Scallops – scallops are a soft mollusk that have a flakey texture, are high in protein, and absorb the flavor of sauce well.
• Salt and Pepper – high quality salt and pepper are essential in every recipe to draw out the flavor of the other ingredients and bring the dish together.
• Garlic – garlic has a strong herbaceous flavor that pairs well with the Thai spices.
• Thai Basil – while Thai Basil isn’t critical – I LOVE the flavor it gives this easy dish. Thai Basil is usually available at most American grocery stores; you can use regular basil if you can’t find Thai basil or a garlic clove and some fresh mint for a more similar flavor profile.
• Chili Paste – I love chili paste for all sorts of recipes – it gives a rich, spicy, and almost smoky flavor that is an awesome accent to seafood, chicken, and beef. I prefer this brand – but you can also swap it for sriracha or my favorite sweet chili sauce!
• Lemon – lemon is the perfect acid hit to offset this spicy seafood dish.

Once you have assembled the ingredients use the following method:

Heat and season – Heat the butter in a pan on high heat until its foamy. Rinse and pat dry the scallops and season them with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the scallops to the pan and cook with space in between them.

Cook. Cook the scallops on high heat about 4 minutes on each side.

Make sauce. Add the garlic and thai basil and quickly sauté until fragrant. Add the lemon spices and chili paste and stir.

Serve. When the scallops are springy to the touch and browned on both sides remove from heat, serve topped with sauce. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks to Perfect Pan Seared Scallops

These tips work with any scallop recipe, so be sure to save this post for later!

Pat Scallops Dry.Scallops really benefit from the delicious buttery seared crunchy crust – which won’t properly form with wet scallops. Be sure to pat scallops dry before searing to get the best results – obviously, scallops are a very watery shellfish and will still be quite moist to the touch, but we want all excess water patted off.

Frozen Scallops are Fine. If you opt for frozen chose scallops that are still frozen from your fishmonger (and if defrosted, don’t be shy and ask to smell them – scallops shouldn’t smell overly fishy, and have a sweet scent when fresh.)

Let frozen scallops defrost naturally in the refrigerator. I you use frozen scallops, put them on a plate, layered in paper towels, to get some of the excess ice off the scallops, fast when defrosting in the fridge.

Cook through, but Don’t Overcook. Like shrimp and lobster, scallops can take on a fishy taste and gummy, tough texture when overcooked. Scallops should be springy to the touch, but not jiggly like jello. It should feel like the fleshy part of your hand between your thumb and finger – not slippery and loose like it is raw, or firm like a well-done steak.

Keep the pan scorching hot. Scallops are best when cooked hot and fast – giving them a lovely, crunchy crust, and cooking the meat all the way through without drying it out or losing it’s liquids.

Don’t form sauce until the last few minutes. The bulk of the time for this recipe is spent searing the scallops – with some time to soften and brown the garlic and lemons – but if you add the chili and Thai basil too early, it can burn or get bitter.

Remove lemons when serving. The lemons flavor will cook quickly into the sauce, but can turn bitter if left in the sauce for too long.

FAQs

What to Serve With Thai Scallops:

If you love these incredible seared chili Thai scallops, you will also love these Sweet C’s seafood favorites alongside like Sesame Ginger Grilled Bok Choy, Wild Rice Pilaf, Spicy Peanut Noodles, or Vegetable Spring Rolls!

Click here to see other one pot dinners!

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