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Seafood

Honey Butter Blackened Scallops with Couscous Salad

Honey butter blackened scallops are the best scallops you’ll ever have! Pair with cucumber and fermented celery couscous salad for the perfect meal.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
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Cook | Seafood

Honey Butter Blackened Scallops with Couscous Salad

Honey butter blackened scallops are the best scallops you’ll ever have! Pair with cucumber and fermented celery couscous salad for the perfect meal.

The Best Blackened Scallops

Blackened scallops are my all-time favorite seafood. Well, my favorite cooked seafood, because I have to admit raw oysters are my absolute fave. Scallops are wonderful for health too. They contain beneficial vitamins and minerals like selenium, zinc, copper, and iodine.

Sea scallops are also a rich source of healthy fats and low in cholesterol, making them one of the healthiest protein-rich foods. They are over 80% protein, by the way!

It’s taken me a while to figure out how I like my scallops cooked, and I think I nailed it with this recipe. Blackened scallops are the best, and if you enjoy shellfish, you’ll love this recipe.

Honey Butter Blackened Scallops

Most people think blackened seafood is a cooking method, but it’s actually a seasoning. Blackening seasoning, aka “Blackened seasoning,” is a mixture of chili powders, herbs, and spices. It is similar to cajun seasoning and can be used interchangeably.

Here are the ingredients I use to make my blackened seasoning:

  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • smoked paprika
  • ground cumin
  • garlic powder
  • shallot, finely minced
  • cayenne, ground
honey butter blackened scallops on a white plate with browned honey butter drizzled over them.
honey butter blackened scallops on a white plate with browned honey butter drizzled over them.

The blackened seasoning is a dry rub that you coat the scallops with before cooking. Once seared on both sides, coat them with honey butter to send the flavor over the top.

Couscous Salad with Cucumbers and Fermented Celery

honey butter blackened scallops on a bed of cucumber couscous salad.

Cold couscous cucumber salad is the best thing to pair with honey butter-blackened scallops. The light and fresh flavors in the salad pair perfectly with the decadent buttery scallops.

The secret to making this couscous salad delicious is fermented celery and leftover honey butter from cooking the scallops. Here are all the ingredients you need to make the salad:

  • pearl couscous
  • butter
  • water
  • salt
  • 4 Persian cucumbers
  • fresh cilantro chopped
  • fermented celery
  • lemon juice
  • olive oil
  • Leftover honey butter from the blackened scallops

More Recipes to Try

  • Black Mussels in Fermented Lemon Butter Broth
  • Summer Lemon Kale Salad with Brined Salmon
  • Smoked Salmon Carpaccio with Miso and Crispy Fermented Lemon
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Seafood

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5 from 1 review

Honey Butter Blackened Scallops with Couscous Salad

Honey butter blackened scallops are the best scallops you’ll ever have! Pair with cucumber and fermented celery couscous salad for the perfect meal.

  • Prep: 15 minutes
  • Cook: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Blackened Scallops

  • 1 pound large scallops (about 16 scallops)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon fresh shallot, finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, ground
  • 3 tablespoons salted butter
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey

Couscous Salad

  • 1 cup pearl couscous
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 1/2 cups of water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 Persian cucumbers
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fermented celery
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Left over honey butter from the blackened scallops

Instructions

  1. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the paprika, cumin, garlic, shallot, cayenne, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
  3. Toss the scallops in the spices until evenly coated.
  4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is very hot and almost smoking, add the scallops and sear on both sides until browned, about 3 minutes on each side.
  5. reduce the heat, melt the butter in the pan and drizzle the honey over the scallops. Toss the scallops to coat
  6. Remove from the scallops from the pan and set aside, reserve the honey butter in the pan for the couscous salad.
  7. Cook the cous cous: toast the couscous in butter for about 2 minutes with stirring.
  8. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover and cook for 15 minutes until tender.
  9. Wash and thinly slice the cucumbers.
  10. Combine the cucumbers and cooked couscous with the fermented celery and cilantro.
  11. Toss in the olive oil and lemon juice.
  12. Warm the left over honey butter in the scallop pan and de-glaze with a splash of lemon juice. Scoop the saucy honey butter from the scallop pan into the couscous salad and toss to combine.
  13. Plate scallops on top the salad and enjoy!
  14. Please leave a 5 star review if you loved the recipe.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a 5-star review below if you loved it! Tag @cultured.guru on Instagram

 

Nutrition information is auto-calculated and estimated as close as possible. We are not responsible for any errors. We have tested the recipe for accuracy, but your results may vary.

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Kaitlynn Fenley Author, Educator, Food Microbiologist
Kaitlynn is a food microbiologist and fermentation expert teaching people how to ferment foods and drinks at home.
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hey i’m kaitlynn, i’m a microbiologist and together with my husband jon we are cultured guru.

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sourdough discard 🤝 cottage cheese combined tw sourdough discard 🤝 cottage cheese

combined two of the best fermented foods to make the best pancakes. And yes, you can ferment the batter overnight in the fridge for easier digestion. 

My recipe makes 15 pancakes and each serving of 3 pancakes had 17 grams of protein! 

Get the recipe from my recipe index, linked in my profile✨

#sourdough #cottagecheese #pancakes #fermentation
It can suppress overgrowth of Candida albicans, wh It can suppress overgrowth of Candida albicans, while boosting good bacteria in your gut! 

Roasting garlic increases beneficial garlic compounds like diallyl sulfide and diallyl disulfide — or DADS, for short. Both of these compounds have been studied for their anti-inflammatory (anti-cancer), antioxidant, and antifungal properties.

It’s definitely a sauerkraut you should keep in your rotation.

To get the recipe google “garlic sauerkraut.” and you’ll see mine it’s the first one.

Sources:
PMC8777027 (Diallyl Disulfide (DADS) Ameliorates Intestinal Candida albicansInfection by Modulating the Gut microbiota and Metabolites and Providing Intestinal Protection)

https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9100401 (diallyl disulfide (DADS) shows a substantial increase, with concentrations rising from 1.6 mg/g in non-fermented garlic to 4.8 mg/g in its fermented counterpart, suggesting enhanced bioactivity through fermentation)
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A half-cup serving of this ice cream has 12 grams of protein, making it a healthy and balanced sweet snack. Get the recipe from the recipe index linked in my profile. 

#cottagecheese #icecream
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It’s creamy, cheesy, and packed with protein, but with fewer calories thanks to the cottage cheese base. And it’s only 6 ingredients +toppings! 

I love it topped with cilantro, diced tomatoes, onions and fresh jalapeños! 

Get the full recipe from my recipe index, linked in my bio. 

#queso #cheese #cottagecheese
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Google “cultured guru sauerkraut” and you’ll see my recipes! 

#sauerkraut #fermentation
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Google fermented bok choy and you’ll see my recipe, it’s the first one. ☝🏼 #cabbage #fermentation #homestead 

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