Specially Selected Premium Jumbo Scallops

After crab legs and shrimp, scallops are one of my favorite types of seafood. In fact, for special occasions when my husband and I go to a local teppanyaki restaurant where they prepare the food on large cooktops in front of us, we always get a combination dinner that features filet mignon, lobster, and a choice of shrimp or scallops. I always opt for the scallops. Those tender, sweet, buttery-tasting scallops always hit the spot.

Scallops are expensive enough that I don’t indulge in them often, but I sometimes buy them from Aldi for special dinners at home. I’ve gotten them in seafood mixes that include calamari, mussels, and shrimp. I’ve also purchased limited-edition bacon-wrapped scallops and Patagonian scallops from the discount grocer.

Aldi also sells some jumbo scallops all the time in the freezer aisle. They’re still pricey, but they can be a more affordable splurge compared to buying scallops at a restaurant.

Specially Selected Premium Jumbo Scallops cost $15.99 for a 12-ounce package in March of 2025, or around $1.33 per ounce. That’s up slightly from the $13.99, or about $1.17, I paid for them when I last reviewed them in 2023.

The package I bought in 2023 contained nine large scallops, which came out to about $1.55 per scallop. The bag I bought in 2025 had 15 scallops, plus some random small pieces, making them about $1.07 per scallop.

These are a Regular Buy, so you should be able to find them at Aldi any time of year. Specially Selected is the Aldi house brand for various gourmet foods such as avocado tomatillo salsa, Greek lemon yogurt, premium brownie mix, and more. Specially Selected is not a company. It’s just the name Aldi puts on these types of products, which it sources from various suppliers.

These scallops are wild caught and are a product of the U.S. They were caught in Major Fishing Area 21 in the Northwest Atlantic using the dredge catch method. The package states the scallops come from a Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable fishery.

The only ingredient is sea scallops. If you’re looking out for allergens, naturally these contain shellfish.

One package contains three 4-ounce servings. In the package I purchased, that comes out to about three scallops per serving. Each serving has 100 calories, 1 gram of total fat (1% DV), 190 mg of sodium (8% DV), 5 grams of total carbohydrates (2% DV), no dietary fiber or sugars, and 19 grams of protein.

The back of the package has thawing instructions.

For regular thawing, remove scallops from the package before thawing. Place scallops in a container and thaw in the refrigerator for 8 hours. The temperature while thawing should not exceed 45 degrees.

For quick thawing, place scallops in a colander and rinse under cold water for 5-7 minutes. For best results, pat dry with a paper towel before cooking.

Cook to an internal temperature of 145 degrees prior to serving. If thawed, these should be cooked and used within three days.

There are no cooking instructions on the package. The first time I cooked these a few years ago, I didn’t thoroughly pat the scallops dry, and I don’t think my pan was hot enough when I added the scallops.

More recently when I cooked these, I took the time to dry them as much as I could, patting them with paper towels. Then I added a little olive oil to a skillet and let it get nice and hot before putting the scallops in. Your skillet should be hot enough that the scallops sizzle when you add them. I cooked them for about 3 minutes on each side, until they got a browned crust on both sides. I added half a tablespoon of butter to the skillet when I flipped the scallops. I also added salt and pepper to each side of the scallops as they cooked.

These turned out great. They were sweet, tender, buttery, savory, and just good overall. My family really liked them, and they didn’t last long.

The Verdict:

Specially Selected Premium Jumbo Scallops are large scallops that cook up tender in a pan on the stovetop. Be sure to pat them dry before dropping them on a well-heated, oiled pan. We seasoned them with salt and pepper as they cooked, and we added a little butter halfway through cooking. They turned out very good.