Ever since the weather began warming up in Charlotte, we’ve been grilling machines in our house. Something about firing up the grill at the end of the day relaxes me. (Um, this may be because Ryan usually does the grilling… Ha!) And something about grilling just feels quintessentially SUMMER. I think grilling might be mandatory on the Fourth of July. It’s almost always part of our family’s plans and firing up the grill will absolutely make it onto our Fourth of July calendar this year, whether we’re celebrating at home or manage to make it to my parents’ house in Florida like we’re hoping to do next week. No matter who does the grilling in your house, there’s no denying something about throwing just about anything savory on the grill gives it a flavor you cannot duplicate in a skillet or in the oven.
When it comes to grilling, for years we mostly stuck to the basics — burgers, veggie kebabs, chicken thighs, sausage, hot dogs — but once we began experimenting with grilling seafood, we never looked back! Though I’m no stranger to grilling fish, I was admittedly rather intimidated by the thought of grilling scallops. I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise since I was actually intimidated by the sheer thought of preparing scallops at home altogether. I typically think of scallops as a “restaurant dish” because they seem fussy and fancy. Is this just me or are you guys out there whipping up seared scallops at home on the regular?
If you tend to share my “scallops are fancy” line of thought, I’m here today to tell you to get yourself some scallops and get your grill ready because they don’t need to be a fussy, fancy food any longer.
I was actually first inspired to grill scallops thanks to one of your comments on a past blog post! When I was writing about my love for Specially Selected wild caught ahi tuna at ALDI (the BEST!), one of you commented telling me that their scallops were incredible as well. (Shout out to blog reader Jan!) As a seafood lover through and through, I knew I had to try them and added a bag of Specially Selected Jumbo Scallops to my next ALDI Instacart order.
You guys, these scallops are wild caught, monstrous scallops that are so plump and juicy and delicious I cannot sing their praises loud enough. The quality is unreal and they’re certified sustainably caught and harvested which I absolutely love. And 12 ounces of the Specially Selected Jumbo Scallops from ALDI are $10 which is so much more affordable than most other grocery stores in our area. Yes, yes, yes!
So once you have your scallops in hand, what do you do with them? Thaw them, marinate them and grill them! I promise it’s that easy.
And serve them on top of a sweet corn and tomato salad to bring all of the fresh, vibrant flavors of summer to life!
Oh I love the colors of beautiful produce!
As always, if you give this recipe a try, I would appreciate it so much if you would leave a review and let me know what you think. I hope this recipe becomes a favorite in your house!
Grilled Scallops with Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad
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Grilled Scallops with Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad
- Prep Time: 35 minutes (includes marinating time)
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
This recipe for grilled scallops with sweet corn and tomato salad is easy enough to whip up on a busy weeknight but special enough to save for a festive cookout with family and friends.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup organic cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup Simply Nature frozen Organic Sweet Corn, thawed
- 1/2 small red onion, diced and soaked in water for 10 minutes to remove some of the “bite”
- 3 tablespoons Simply Nature Organic Olive Oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped + additional cilantro for garnish
- 1 avocado, diced
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 12 ounces Specially Selected Jumbo Scallops, thawed
- 2 tablespoons Simply Nature Organic Olive Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
For the Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad:
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat. Set in the refrigerator to chill while grilling the scallops.
For the Scallops:
- Rinse the scallops and pat dry. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and lemon juice. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Heat grill to a medium-high heat. Place scallops on the grill and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes before flipping. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes and serve on top of corn and tomato salad. Sprinkle with additional salt, pepper and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!
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This looks and sounds SO amazing! Anytime i’ve tried to cook scallops I’ve royally failed, so I’m always hesitant to give them another try. But this recipe sounds like a breeze, I am so tempted try again! Thank you for sharing!
Yessss! It’s really is so so easy! I had much better luck with these than some smaller scallops I tried in the past that were just way too easy to overcook… hence one of the reasons they’ve intimidated me for so long! I think jumbo is the key and these are fabulous!
This looks amazing, and so easy! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I’m so glad you tried them!! I think they’re such a great find. Even my seafood guy who comes to Memphis from the gulf says that they’re better than the ones he gets. I can’t wait to try your recipe.
Thank YOU again for the recommendation!!
This looks delicious, thank you for the heads up about scallops at Aldi (what a find)! I’m curious, did you put the scallops directly onto the grill? Or did you use a grill pan or something to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks?
That looks so good! We have a shellfish allergy in our house, but I’m definitely making that salad with something else on top!
I have a random question. Where did you get those dishes? The first thing that caught my eye was the plate!
They are beautiful.
We made these on Friday and they were DELICIOUS. We didn’t have avocado, so we swapped in jalepenos and I highly recommend the addition if you like a little spice! Thanks for a fun, simple recipe that made for a special dinner at home!
So happy you loved them!!! Thanks for letting me know! And I am such a baby about spice but love the idea of a little pop of spice/flavor from jalepenos — just maybe not too many for me– haha!! Thank you for the idea!
These scallops are amazing and this is the first time I have bought them from Aldi. I will definitely purhase them again. I doubled the corn salad to have leftovers the next day.
So glad you liked them so much!! Love the idea of doubling the corn salad!
Just made tonight and loved this recipe! Great idea/combo!!
This recipe was a WINNER! No changes and it came out great.
This recipe was spectacular!!!! I served it with orzo and licked the plate clean. Restaurant quality.
I’m so happy to hear this!! So appreciate your comment and this review!