Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops

My family loves seafood, and especially shellfish. We frequently purchase shrimp from Aldi, and occasionally we get snow crab legs, king crab legs, or scallops as a treat. I decided to do a seafood theme for my family’s Christmas Day meal this year, so I picked up some crab cakes and lobster tails, and I opted to try something different as well: a box of bacon-wrapped scallops.

Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops cost $6.99 for a 6-oz. box containing six scallops at the time of publication. That comes out to roughly $1.17 per scallop/ounce. I found some cheaper bacon wrapped scallops at Walmart for $1 per scallop/ounce, and Target had some for about $1.14 per ounce, so you might benefit from shopping around some, but scallops just aren’t very inexpensive no matter where you buy them. It’s possible you could make your own bacon wrapped scallops for less money, if you don’t mind doing a little extra work.

These are an Aldi Find (Special Buy), which means they are only in stores for a short time.

The scallops are a product of the U.S. and are certified sustainable through the Marine Stewardship Council. Their scientific name is Placopecten magellanicus, and they were caught in catch area FAO 21 (in the Northwest Atlantic) using a dredge method.

Ingredients are sea scallops and bacon (cured with water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite).

If you’re watching out for allergens, naturally these contain shellfish (sea scallops).

The box contains two servings, with a three-piece serving netting you 160 calories, 11 grams of total fat (14% DV), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% DV), 590 mg of sodium (26% DV), 2 grams of total carbs (1% DV), 0 grams of sugars, and 15 grams of protein.

These scallops are small — about two inches across, give or take. So one person could easily eat the entire box and probably still be hungry. They’re best served as appetizers or as a small side dish to complement a larger meal.

The scallops can be prepared in the oven or on the grill. They come with wooden skewers stuck

To bake them from frozen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove all packaging and place the scallops on an oven-safe tray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking, until an internal temperature of 165 degrees is achieved. If you want crispier bacon, broil on high for 3-4 minutes.

To grill, thaw before cooking. Remove the scallops from all packaging and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Place the scallops on grill grates and grill for 7-9 minutes on each side, until an internal temperature of 165 degrees is achieved. The instructions recommend keeping a spray bottle of water nearby for any flare-ups.

The scallops after baking, ready to serve.

These scallops were easy to prepare and were done baking in about 25-30 minutes, like the instructions stated. Next time I might give the baking sheet a light coating of nonstick spray because one or two scallops stuck a bit, but it wasn’t bad. I recommend using a rimmed baking sheet because a small amount of liquid comes out of the scallops as they bake. Some of the frozen scallops were stuck together when I opened the package to arrange them on the baking sheet, and I cracked one of the wooden skewers trying to separate them, so if your scallops don’t all separate easily, just wait until after baking to pull them apart.

They tasted delicious. The scallops were tender and sweet and almost buttery, and the bacon gave them just the right touch of saltiness. I didn’t broil these for the last few minutes, but the bacon was still somewhat crisp. I’m not sure I’ll buy these often because of their price, but they were a cinch to bake and were a nice treat to go with a special dinner. I’m glad we tried them.

The Verdict:

Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops are easy to cook and taste great. The sweet tender scallops pair well with the salty, slightly crispy bacon. One downside is that you don’t get much in the box, but what you do get is really good.