So Luscious! So Fancy! So Christmas-Date-Night-In Perfect.
Say hello to this bowl of brown butter scallops + risotto that is about to take you by storm with all of its brown butter glory.
But back it up. Brown butter is just the beginning, er, more accurately, the finishing touch.
This feels-like-a-fancy-restaurant meal combines the love that is a pile of creamy Parmesan risotto (with a splash of white wine bcz this is a fancy restaurant, remember?) and seared scallops, garlic sautéed greens, and THEN, like we weren’t already ???????????? enough, the brown butter gets drizzled all up on top of everything. Just so you can go to heaven and back again in one bite.
In real life, while I was making this, Bjork walked into the kitchen and announced that our house smelled like a fancy restaurant.
Like, are you even ready for this level of food celebrity status? Prepare yourself.
How to Make Our Brown Butter Scallops (1 MIN 8 SEC):
Two of my very favorite things about this recipe are the process – or maybe better called an adventure ???? – of searing the scallops (um, PS. hi, I’m a complete novice at the scallop game, so just wanted to throw that out there) and the slow simmering of the risotto.
I am usually all-in for quick and easy meals that require little to no hands-on time. I embrace slow cookers (see also: Midwest born and raised). Short ingredient lists inspire me. I love fast food processor meals, because you can count Magic Green Sauce as a meal, right?
But slow, constantly-stirred, creamy risotto is not necessarily fast, and I love it all the more because of it.
There is something so super zen, so calming and relaxing for your always-on-the-go self when you’re standing over the stove and gradually stirring the liquid into the barely-bubbling pan of creamy arborio rice while talking to your people sitting on the other side of the counter. You’re just lazily pouring, stirring, pouring, stirring, and together you’re just talk-talk-talking. And your house smells amazing like you CAN’T EVEN because garlic + butter + white wine is basically the same thing as aromatherapy. And obviously you can and will manage to find time between stirs to take five hundred bites, you know, just to test it. It’s the purist form of food therapy.
The scallops are almost sweet and so perfectly light and luscious, but let’s tell it like it is: searing them might not be food therapy and might require some YouTube studying beforehand.
A few things that help:
- use a non-stick pan
- use grapeseed oil (high smoke point)
- get that pan pretty darn hot
- shake the pan around with the scallops in there so they don’t stick and tear
- keep a fire extinguisher handy
- just kidding
- maybe
For real: You can do this. We can do this.
Fancy restaurant status is coming at you in the form of golden brown scallops, creamy Parmesan risotto, and garlic sautéed greens! ????
**I developed this recipe in partnership with ALDI for an Instagram campaign, so while this isn’t a sponsored post per se, we did use (and enjoy!) ALDI Jumbo Scallops for the recipe! ???? The Jumbo Scallops will be available in ALDI stores from 12/16 through the end of the holiday season, or while supplies last!**
Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto
Prep Time: 15 mins- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 3-4
Print Recipe
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Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto! So Luscious! So Fancy! So Christmas-Date-Night-In Perfect. Say hello to this delicious meal!
Ingredients
PARMESAN RISOTTO:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 minced clove garlic or 1 minced shallot (or both)
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 3-ish cups of chicken broth
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
SEARED SCALLOPS:
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- 1 pound jumbo scallops
SAUTEED SPINACH OR KALE:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 4 cups spinach or kale
BROWN BUTTER:
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- For the Risotto: In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic or shallots and saute for a minute or two, until soft and fragrant. Add the arborio rice, stir to coat with butter. Add the white wine and enjoy the sizzles. Add the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and simmer/stir after each addition until the rice is soft and creamy. I usually err on the side of more liquid to get a creamier texture. Add the parmesan and stir until incorporated. Salt + pepp to taste.
- For the Seared Scallops: Heat oil in nonstick skillet. Pat scallops dry (VERY DRY, as dry as possible), sprinkle with salt, and add to pan. They should sizzle (if not, you need a hotter pan.) Shake gently to prevent sticking. After 2-3 minutes, flip each scallop over. They should have a pretty golden brown exterior and an opaque inside. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately.
- For the Sautéed Spinach: Heat the oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic, stir for a minute to get the flavor going. Add the spinach or kale and stir until wilted.
- For the Brown Butter: Put a few tablespoons of butter in a clean skillet over medium heat and stir it while watching it closely – when it starts to look golden and foamy, remove from heat, transfer to a heat-proof bowl to cool slightly, then drizzle over the risotto, scallops, and greens.
This was a helpful video tutorial I watched for searing the scallops! Thanks, Martha.
this looks awesome, and I can’t wait to give it a try.
This is certainly a fantastic dish! Love risotto with scallops! I love to serve it in the shell with the scallop on top.
Stunning photos and beautiful recipe.
★★★★★
Thanks, Alida!
Restaurant worthy dishes are my favorite! They look so gourmet but don’t take hours behind the stove like most people would think.
Agreed! 🙂
Where are you guys?? D:
I keep hoping for a new recipe or an update. Is everyone ok?
UGH. Scallops and risotto are two of my favorite ‘special’ week night dinners (aka i spend more than 15 minutes making them) and you combined them!! genius!
Enjoy, Beverley! 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. It was a great date night in dinner! From SLP, I enjoy your recipes and knowing you are here cooking them up in the Mpls area 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome, Katie! 🙂
Just made this risotto and it was da ????!!! So delicious my husband and I couldn’t stop eating it!
Thanks, Lauren!
I love everything about this dish! Parmesan risotto, scallops and spinach are all ingredients I love, I absolutely have to try this. Thanks for posting!
Hope you like it! 🙂
You have just helped me decide on my Christmas dinner menu for two! Love you on Instagram.
Thanks, Sherri!
I loved the recipe, I saw this blog somewhere on http://www.restavista.com. I will recommend my friends. Thanks
★★★★★
We just made this dish last night! (Pretending to be fancy on an anniversary, so much better than going out!) It came out perfectly. And really it seems so fancy, but the only thing we didn’t already have in our pantry were the scallops. Not a bad splurge for a fantastic dish! I’ve made a couple recipes from your blog, and I’m not much of a “commenter” but this one was overly worthy of some praise.
I also enjoy your writing style and pictures! It’s the perfect amount, not too long where I feel like I’m scrolling for days just to get to the actual recipe 😉
Thanks for a great recipe!!
★★★★★
We love hearing that! Thanks for the comment, Stephanie. 🙂
Great history and beautiful photos!!!
Delicious and easy to make this recipe.
Thank you.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it, Melinda!
Lol to the “keep a fire extinguisher” suggestion. Looks amazing. I’ve had a hankering for scallops for a couple of weeks now. Can’t wait to try them.
Hope you like them, Michelle!
I can’t wait to try this for our family cooking night on New Years Eve! Just celebrated our anniversary and had a very similar dish (at Ike’s in Minnetonka!) and went searching for a similar recipe (seared scallops+risotto+arugula on their version), and found your recipe – now I wonder if they used your’s??? I expect this will be delish. Thanks!
Enjoy, Deanne! Happy New Year! 🙂
This was fantastic! I am going to make a note to wear a mitt on my hand to avois
D burn from the oil when placing the scallops in the scorching hot pan. Recipe is wonderful, thanks you!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! I was a total scallop novice and now I feel like I have something new and exciting to add to our rotation.
Plus, now that I realize how simple brown butter is I’m going to be tempted to put it on everything…
This is my third recipe of yours in three days (also made the queso chicken chili and the creamy tomato florentine lasagna) and my husband told me they are the best meals I’ve ever made. Thanks for making them fresh, easy to follow and delicious!
★★★★★
how long does the risotto usually take?
★★★★★
Hi, Devin! The risotto should take 20-30 minutes.
Just made these for me & my boyfriend tonight and they were such a hit! I’ve only cooked scallops once before and risotto — not even once. So delicious! Thank you for coming up with this and sharing 🙂
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it!
So I found this recipe on pinterest and scrolled through comments (as I usually do) to see how people went with cooking it. I was so annoyed to see SO many comments of people saying how amazing the dish looked but not actually trying it! Anyway! I decided to give it a go. Wow. Wow. Wow. It is officially the best thing I have ever cooked. My partner said it was ‘out of this world!’ and he isn’t wrong! I found the whole process very simple and the instructions easy to follow. The only problem I had was getting it all together at the end at the same time so the risotto, scallops, kale and butter were all nice and hot. With limited hotplates it was hard, BUT I pulled it together and the result was amazing. Thanks for the recipe! I shall explore more of your site for more!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it, Colina!
I LOVE this recipe and never knew how easy risotto could be! I am having a hard time getting mine so creamy though but maybe with time i’ll get it mastered 🙂 Also, PLEASE let us know when those bowls are up for sale. NEED NEED NEED!!
Thanks for sharing all of this tastiness!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it, Sam!
Can’t wait to try this ! By the way,my mother’s maiden name was Bjork. Cool !
★★★★★
I am ready to make this! What kind of white wine? Just cooking wine? Or chardonnay?
We used cooking wine and it was great. 🙂
This meal is super easy for how impressive it is. It was elegant and delicious and made me look like I knew what I was doing. Great idea for date night at home!
★★★★★
Thanks, Mackenzie!
Hubby and I have been married over 25 years and we are not particularly sentimental when it comes to Valentine’s Day. I was at Sam’s Club and bought him his favorite . . . scallops (he is REALLY indifferent to chocolate) as his gift. As an early gift made this for dinner last night–amazingly I had all other ingredients on hand! It was delicious, Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Awesome, Carol! Happy Valentine’s Day. 🙂
Thanks you for putting in the nutrition content…esp. the salt. Does most of the salt come from the broth reduction? I can buy “no salt broth” … I need to reduce salt by about half?? Recipe sounds great!
Hi, Van! The majority of the salt comes from the broth. You can also make sure you’re using unsalted butter to cut the salt down even further.
I’m making this dish for dinner tonight. How long does it take to make the risotto? I’m trying to gauge when to start making that before the scallops since they don’t take much time.
Thanks and I can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Hi, Kathryn! For us, the risotto took around 30 minutes.