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 $13.99 for a 12-ounce package at the time of publication. The package I bought contained nine large scallops, so that comes out to about $1.55 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, flatbread pizza, and more.
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 fishery that has been independently certified to the Marine Stewardship Council’s standard for a well-managed and sustainable fishery.
The only ingredient is sea scallops. If you’re looking out for allergens, naturally these contain shellfish.
Nutrition information, ingredients, and thawing directions. (Click to enlarge.)
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), 30 mg of cholesterol (10% DV), 190 mg of sodium (8% DV), 5 grams of total carbohydrates (2% DV), and 19 grams of protein.
The back of the package has thawing instructions. Remove scallops from the vacuum 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.
Cooked scallops.
I thawed these under running water and cooked them in a pre-heated skillet on my stovetop with two tablespoons of butter. It took about 12 minutes for them to cook to an internal temperature of 145 degrees, and I flipped them occasionally. I followed a recipe from Kitchn for the most part, except that I was cooking jumbo scallops that took longer to cook.
These didn’t get a nice light brown crust on the outside like I hoped they would, but that might be because I didn’t thoroughly pat them dry before dropping them into the pan, and I didn’t want to keep cooking them to get that brown crust and risk overcooking them.
These came out very tender, but they still needed a little more flavor after cooking. I added a small amount of garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the cooked scallops and spooned a little extra butter from the cooking pan on top of the scallops, and that did the trick.
If I buy these again, I’d try harder to make sure they got properly seared in the pan and got that classic golden crust. Otherwise, these are a decent if expensive seafood option.
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 pre-heated pan, and season them with butter, salt, pepper, and even a little fresh minced garlic or garlic powder.
The key to any scallops, especially frozen, is to properly thaw them. I’ve had great luck with these but only if you leave them on paper towels, completely pat them dry and get them into a well heated cast iron pan!