Last Updated on April 21, 2025
Scallops with lobster brandy sauce need to be on your shortlist of recipes to try. The flavor of this is phenomenal.
Have you ever watched a TV cooking show and gotten an OMG moment? Like when you are seeing this recipe come together and right away you know you have to try it?
So quick…You hit the record button, so you don’t lose it. Well, that is where this recipe came from.
While binge-watching Triple D, (Diners and Drive-ins and Dives), on the Food Network Channel on a Friday night, (that’s as exciting as it gets around here lately), I saw this amazing recipe made by a guy who has a restaurant in a gas station.
And he’s making incredible seafood.
He’s mixing up a couple of gallons of this Lobster Brandy Sauce and Guy Fieri goes bonkers over how good this tastes.
I love seafood and I love scallops and lobster, so you know where this is going. Condense this 2-gallon recipe down to about 2 cups.
Ingredients For The Brandy Sauce
The sauce is basically a butter and flour roux that’s flavored with lobster stock.
To be honest, I had never used lobster stock before and didn’t know where to find it. I’ve never seen it at Publix!
Turns out that a little specialty store in Clearwater had this Bar Harbor brand stock. After some research too, it turns out that Better Than Bouillon makes a lobster base.
I’m getting me some of that.
The sauce also gets some aromatics…garlic and onion. A little lemon juice, white wine, brandy, and hot sauce round out the flavors.
A bit of heavy cream is added for richness and thickening.
Making the Lobster Brandy Sauce
Butter, garlic, and onions are added to a saucepan on medium heat and cooked to soften. Then the flour is mixed in and allowed to cook off the flour taste.
Next, all the wet ingredients are whisked in and allowed to simmer and thicken. The lobster flavor really develops as the sauce is reduced.
The scallops get seared in a hot skillet to create a nice char. Two to three minutes on one side, then a couple of minutes on the other.
It all depends on the size of the scallops you are using. The scallops I used were 10/20 size, i.e. number of pieces per pound.
Scallops are done when they turn opaque.
A drop or two of truffle oil on the scallops makes this taste really amazing.
Frequently Asked Questions
The oil should have a high smoke point: canola, grapeseed, safflower, extra virgin olive oil, or clarified butter.
It’s best to thaw them is to place them on a paper towel on a plate, cover them with plastic wrap and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. The paper towel should help to absorb any moisture in the scallop to encourage better browning.
When selecting sea scallops, make sure that you are getting dry-packed. These are scallops that are shucked and put on ice with no additives. Ask the fishmonger if you are unsure. Check the scallop to see if the side muscle is removed. It would be an obvious looking white spot on the side of the scallop. Cut it off if it remains. Pat the scallops dry before cooking for best browning.
Serve the scallops with lobster brandy sauce with rice or mashed potatoes and a vegetable or salad.
This is some really good eats. You can also use this lobster brandy cream sauce for seafood of any kind. Shrimp, crabmeat, or fried cod would taste excellent with the sauce.
Give this a try!
And you might also like to try these seafood recipes:
- Crab Cakes from Canned Crab
- Crepes St. Jacques
- Seared Scallop Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Mango Salsa
Seared Scallops with Lobster Brandy Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 oz. sea scallops
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup fine chopped onion, (1/4 yellow onion)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, (juice from 1/2 lemon)
- 1/4 cup flour, all-purpose
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 15 oz. Bar Harbor lobster stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 2 tsp hot sauce, I used Frank's
- truffle oil
Instructions
- Use a large sauce pan on medium heat and melt the butter. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 3 or 4 minutes to soften. Add the salt if using and the lemon juice.
- Sprinkle in the flour and mix well with the butter and cook for a minute to eliminate the flour taste. Then whisk in the wine, lobster stock, cream, and brandy. Bring to a boil while stirring, then reduce to a gentle boil to reduce.
- Reduce the sauce to the consistency of heavy cream which will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the hot sauce, taste and adjust the heat. Keep the sauce hot to serve or cool and reheat in a small skillet before serving.
- Use a good non-stick skillet on high heat, add the canola oil. Lightly salt the scallops then add to the hot skillet and don't disturb for 2 to 3 minutes to sear the first side of the scallop. Use tongs to twist and lift the scallop and turn to the reverse side. Sear for another 2 minutes and watch for the scallop to turn opaque. Remove from the skillet.
- Ladle a layer of the lobster brandy sauce on a plate and top with the seared scallops. Add a drop or two of truffle oil to each scallop.
Notes
- Nutrition information assumes a 5 ounce serving of scallops with the sauce.
- Better than Bouillon lobster base can be used. If you use this, do not add the sea salt as it is salty.
- The lobster sauce can be cooled then reheated in a small skillet.
- The hot sauce you use is up to you. Crystal, Louisiana, Cholula, and even sriracha would be good.
- Try the lobster sauce with shrimp or crab legs too. It is really good.
- Recipe adapted from Food Network, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
Nutrition
This recipe post has been updated on December 16, 2021.
Robert
Made this recipe exactly according to the ingredients and instructions. Substituted the Bar Harbor lobster stock with the Better Than Bullion Lobster Base and omitted the salt according to the tip in the note section. The sauce was not that favorable, rather bland. Maybe the lobster stock but I have used this stock before in stir-fry recipes and it was very good.
Joe
Hi Robert,
I have made it both ways and the canned Bar Harbor lobster stock has a more intense seafood flavor to it. The Better than Bouillon is just easy to have on hand. Thanks for giving this a try.
Joe
Kristin Nelson
Everything I love!!!
MaryJo
If you love seafood, especially scallops, you really should try this easy recipe. The sauce is sublime! We froze the leftover sauce and had it on shrimp a couple of nights later and it elevated the shrimp way more than making a stock of shrimp shells (which also makes a great sauce) but with less work. A great dish for entertaining!