I first came across a version of this recipe in my grandma’s box of recipe cards. It was just a general outline, without measurements or even oven temperature recorded. I adapted it and have come to love these baked bay scallops for many reasons.
First, this dish is very easy to make, just toss everything together in a baking pan, bake and serve with bread or rolls. No side dish prep or additional bowls to dirty.
Second, bay scallops are inexpensive for seafood so this meal is budget friendly. Certainly you could make it with larger scallops but I personally reserve those for special occasions. This dish you can make anytime.
Third, it is adaptable. The first time I made this recipe, I served it with roasted broccoli. I ended up scooping up all my broccoli and mixing it into the scallops to soak up all the delicious juices. From there on, I have always cooked it with broccoli in the baking pan.
Broccoli is completely untraditional in this recipe, so you can omit it if you want. I love making a recipe my own by mixing in ingredients that make me feel good. I like to claim this is a healthy cooking blog, so mixing in veggies where they are not normally found is kind-of my thing.
Variations to the Baked Bay Scallops recipe:
- Swap or Omit the veggies: As I stated previously, I love mixing in veggies where they don’t belong. You can omit the broccoli, or swap it for something you like more. Try mushrooms, asparagus, or artichokes.
- Keep the broccoli small: Cut the broccoli so that the florets are about the size of the bay scallops. This will help them cook evenly and not be overwhelming in the dish.
- Make it gluten free: Omit the panko and use a little more cheese to make a nice cheesy crust on top.
- Change the seasonings: I used fresh minced garlic and Italian seasoning. You could try fresh ginger and miso, roasted garlic and a single herb like basil or thyme, or spice it up with lots of cracked black pepper and/or red pepper flake.
- 1 lb bay scallops
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ a small head broccoli, chopped (about 1 cup); optional
- 2 TBS melted butter
- ¼ tsp Italian seasoning
- Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 2 TBS parmesan
- 3 TBS panko
- Lemon wedges, for serving.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Dry scallops well with paper towels and spread into two to three gratin dishes (depending on how many servings you want). Nestle broccoli and garlic into the scallops and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle with parmesan and panko.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the internal temp of the scallops is 115F. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve with lemon wedges.
