Coquilles Saint-Jacques is a French scallop au gratin starter, a true bistro classic I’ve always loved. With sweet scallops baked in a creamy mushroom Béchamel and a golden cheesy crust, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make. Comforting and rich, a lovely way to start a dinner.
Nagi's Notes
If you’re after an elegant starter for dinner parties that can be entirely made ahead, is impressive-but-affordable, and is so incredibly delicious it will make everybody think you’re hiding a French chef in the kitchen, THIS IS IT!!! Make in the morning, bake on demand, and here’s the kicker – ordinary folk (like myself) wouldn’t know whether you used frozen supermarket scallops or the fancy A-grade ones from the fish market that can cost four times more. Yes, we did blind-tastings to test this! I really hope you get a chance to try it!
Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Coquilles Saint-Jacques “scallop gratins” are a classic French recipe, well-known and loved by many. It’s the sort of thing families make as a starter for holidays and special dinners. It uses simple ingredients, has beautiful comforting flavours, a recipe that always feels a bit special without being complicated. It’s also commonly on the menu of proper bistros across France. And the name? Coquilles Saint-Jacques might sound confusing, but it’s simply the French word for scallops.
There are a few different ways to make Coquilles Saint-Jacques. Some people use a creamy white wine sauce with vegetables like onions or leeks. Others like me love the béchamel version, creamy, rich and the perfect base for adding mushrooms which bring a lovely balance and depth of flavour. And of course… I can’t say no to a Gruyère crust!
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make Coquilles Saint-Jacques.
1. Scallops
Of course the better the scallops the better the dish. But I have also tested this with the best value scallops I could find (freezer aisle of supermarkets) and I was still really happy with the result thanks to the fact that it’s gently cooked covered in the creamy mushroom sauce which keeps it soft.
Scallops – Scallops are one of my favourite seafoods to cook and eat! They are delicate, naturally sweet, cook in minutes and always feel a little bit special on a plate.
If you’re looking for the best scallops, go to your local fish monger or fish markets and get them over the counter or look for good quality ones in the freezer. We get frozen Hokkaido scallops (Japan, see photo below) which are excellent even eaten raw for sashimi and crudos. If frozen, thaw them in the fridge or counter (~ 2 hours) before using. We get ours from the fish market or Japanese grocery store.
However, as mentioned above, for this dish you can also go for the better value frozen scallops from supermarkets and Asian stores. But I wouldn’t recommend them for regular pan-seared scallops because in my opinion you need better quality.
Little side foot – See photos in the post for what it looks like. Most but not all scallops have it. If you see it, best to remove as it can get a little chewy when cooked.
Roe / coral (the orange part) – Most scallops come without it. It has a lightly firmer texture and a mild flavour. It’s 100% edible and can be used in this recipe depending on your taste. Most restaurants remove it but still save it for another purpose (chefs love it for its flavour, richness and colour).
Frozen scallops from Japan. Our favourite go-to option.
2. mushroom béchamel sauce
Unsalted butter – For sautéing the eschalot and mushrooms, and the base of the béchamel.
Eschalot – Adds gentle onion sweetness. Softer and milder than regular onions. Eschalots are the small purple skinned onions with a mild, sweet flavour. They’re called shallots in the US, not to be confused with the long green shallots (Aus)/spring onions(US). Substitute with brown onion.
Mushrooms – Bring savoury depth and earthiness to balance the sweetness of the scallops. I use white mushrooms to keep the béchamel light in colour.
Flour – Thickens the sauce. Just regular plain/all-purpose flour
Milk and cream – Heating it helps the sauce come together lump-free. You could substitute the cream with more milk, but it will reduce the richness. Lactose-free milk and cream work too.
Nutmeg – Classic spice in a Béchamel.
3. cheese crust
Panko breadcrumbs – Light Japanese breadcrumb, perfect for what we are after, an extra-crispy topping. You can buy it at most big supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths) in the Asian foods section and Asian stores. Substitute with regular breadcrumbs if you can’t find it.
Unsalted butter – Helps the panko to brown evenly and adds flavour.
Gruyère cheese – From the Swiss Alpes, it’s the traditional cheese for Coquilles Saint-Jacques. Nutty and melts well, perfect for gratins. Swiss/Emmental is the closest match. Otherwise, use any mild melting cheese like Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby or Tasty.
How to make Coquilles Saint-Jacques
The steps to make Coquilles Saint-Jacques are simple. A quick mushroom béchamel, prep a crunchy Gruyère topping, then layer everything over scallops and bake until golden.
1. prepare the scallops
Dry and trim – Pat them dry with paper towel. Remove the little side muscle (the “foot”), it’s edible but gets chewy when cooked.
Slice – Then slice each scallop in half. Set aside until needed.
2. Prepare the Cheesy Crust
Add all the crust ingredients in a bowl.
Combine – Toss together until combined. The topping is ready. Set aside until needed.
3. Making the Mushroom Béchamel Sauce
Butter – Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat.
Cook mushrooms – When the butter is foamy, add eschalot and mushrooms. Stir regularly and cook for 4–5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft.
Flour – Add flour. Stir and cook for 30 seconds. It will look a bit pasty, that’s normal.
Milk and cream – Pour in the hot milk and cream then stir until incorporated.
Season and simmer – Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir well, then when you see the first small bubbles appearing, let it cook for 30 seconds and take it off the stove and set aside.
Check the texture – It should not be as thick as a classic béchamel because of the ratio of flour to liquid being lower than normal. It’s creamier and more pourable, so it spreads easily around the scallops and fills the ramekins without feeling heavy.
4. Assemble the Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Season the scallops with salt and divide them between 4 shallow ramekins. Spread them out so they sit in a single layer. (We use flat round ramekins: 11cm / 4.3” diameter, 2.5cm / 1” deep.) Shallow ramekins are best for this dish because the scallops sit in one even layer and cook perfectly in the sauce, plus you get a nice wide surface for the crust, the best balance of crust to sauce! Regular deeper ramekins will also work, just don’t fill them all the way to the top, and you may need to adjust the amount of scallops, sauce and crust to suit the size.
Add the sauce – Pour the mushroom béchamel over the top. It should spread around the scallops and fill up all the gaps. Use a small spatula or the back of a spoon to flatten the surface and to make it even and tidy. Use all the sauce! The dish relies on that creamy goodness!
Top with crust – Scatter the crust evenly over each ramekin, right to the edges. We want a golden top with no empty spots.
Bake – Place ramekins on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until the tops are golden and crisp. Rest 2 minutes on the counter, then serve!
How to serve Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Of course, these little gratins are best enjoyed hot! Bring them straight to the table after resting while the tops are still crisp. I love them just by themselves, but you can add a little salad on the side or some crusty bread to scoop up the sauce. Or even add tarragon to the sauce (use your leftovers from the Chicken Chasseur) to make it extra French!
Coquilles Saint-Jacques is one of those dishes that feels special every time you make it. Perfect for holidays, date nights or whenever you want something cosy without spending hours in the kitchen. But now that you know how easy it is, don’t wait for a special occasion! Hope you love it and try not to steal the crust from the person next to you like Nagi does, that’s just mean. Bon appétit! – JB 👨🏻🍳
FAQ – Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Yes, you can make it one day ahead. Assemble the scallops and sauce, then cool it completely before adding the topping. Cover and refrigerate. Bake straight from fridge-cold, the cooking time stays the same (20 minutes).
Yes. Flat, shallow ramekins are my favourite because they cook evenly and give the best crust, but other sizes work too. You may need to adjust the number of scallops, sauce and topping depending on how big your ramekins are and how many you want to make.
You can too! I don’t recommend anything larger than 1.5 litres in capacity, otherwise the sauce layer becomes too thin. Just bake until the top is golden.
Of course you can! You’ll see this option in the video. Using the same recipe, I made 5 portions in medium scallop shells. I found mine at the Sydney Fish Market. You can check with your local fish monger and they’re also easy to buy online. Tip: Place a scrunched sheet of foil underneath to keep them flat and stable in the oven.
I was a bit more hands-on for this one! Nagi still jumped in to help with styling, always good to learn from the master herself. I filmed the video on my own this time. But I still had to go back to the studio a few times after realising I’d missed shots or could have done things better. But that’s how you learn, right?
Nagi suggested this would make a perfect Christmas starter, and I couldn’t agree more. After some research and using my own experience, I got the first test pretty close to the final version. From there, it was just a bit of tweaking, answering questions and refining the method until we both felt it was ready to share.
Watch How to Make It
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Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Ingredients
- 220g / 7 1/2 oz medium raw scallops (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Mushroom Béchamel Sauce
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 eschalot (US: shallot), finely diced (Note 2)
- 200g / 7 oz white mushrooms , diced 8mm / 1/4"
- 2 tbsp plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1/2 cup hot milk , preferably full fat but works with lite milk too
- 1/2 cup hot thickened cream (heavy cream) , or any other full fat cream
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
Cheesy Crust
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (Note 3)
- 50 g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 50g / 1/2 cup Gruyère cheese , shredded using a standard box grater (tightly packed if using cups) (Note 4)
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Pat scallops dry, remove the chewy side muscle, slice in half. Cook mushrooms and eschalot in butter, make a creamy béchamel. Mix the crust. Season and cover scallops in gratin dishes, top with crust, bake 20 minutes at 200°C / 400°F (180°C / 350°F fan).
FULL RECIPE
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F (180°C fan-forced).
- Prepare the scallops – Pat them dry with paper towel. Remove the little side muscle (the “foot”) if you see it, it's edible but get chewy when cooked. (Note 1) Set aside until needed.
Cheesy Crust
- Mix the crust ingredients and set aside until needed.
Mushroom Béchamel Sauce
- Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the eschalot and mushrooms. Stir regularly and cook for 4–5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft.
- Add flour. Stir and cook for 30 seconds. It will look a bit pasty, that’s normal.
- Pour in the hot milk and cream. Then stir until incorporated and lump free. (Note 5)
- Thicken – Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg, then stir well. When you see the first small bubbles appearing, let it cook for 30 seconds, then take it off the stove. It should be more pourable than a regular Béchamel, so it spreads easily around the scallops. (Note 6)
Assemble
- Season the scallops with salt and divide them between 4 shallow ramekins. (We use flat round ramekins: 11cm / 4.3" diameter, 2.5cm / 1" deep.) (Note 7)
- Sauce – Cover scallops with ALL the mushroom béchamel. Make sure to fill up all the gaps. Flatten the surface with a small spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Cheesy crust – Scatter the cheesy crust evenly over each ramekin, right to the edges. We want a golden top with no empty spots.
- Bake – Place ramekins on a tray and bake 20 minutes until golden.
- Serve – Rest 2 minutes, then serve. (Note 8) And bon appétit, of course!
Recipe Notes:
- Small scallops: keep them whole.
- Medium scallops: cut in half (my preference).
- Large scallops: cut into 3 pieces so they cook evenly.
- Frozen scallops – most scallops in Australia are frozen. Thaw them in the fridge or counter (~ 2 hours) before using.
- Little side foot – See photos in the post for what it looks like. Most but not all scallops have it. If you see it, best to remove as it can get a little chewy when cooked.
- Roe / coral (the orange part) – Most scallops come without it. It has a slightly firmer texture and a mild flavour. It’s 100% edible and can be used in this recipe depending on your taste. Most restaurants remove it but still save it for another purpose (chefs love it for its flavour, richness and colour).
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Dozer
Dozer said every recipe has to go through quality control. No exceptions!
Delicious but very rich. I served this recipe in main course portions and it was too much. Appetizer portions next time.
Thank you JoAnn! Happy new year!
Absolutely delicious. I needed to add a little more milk to make the bechamel, which I did after adding the nutmeg because the sauce was a little thick (I probably add too much flour)
Thank Warwick, good job on fixing the béchamel. Glad it was a success for you 🙂
Absolutely delicious! My hubby and I like to cook new recipes together. This recipe was logically presented with easy directions to follow. The scallops were cooked to,perfection. The bechamel did not overpower the scallops as was also true of the crust. We used it as part of the main course. This is definitely going to be added to our meal rotation! Thanks so much.
Hi, thank you for you kind words! I’m glad it worked out well!
Wow! That turned out awesome! The only tweak I did was add some diced carrot to the sauce for a bit of color. Other than that, I followed your instructions and all went really well. When you have a crowd, this is way easier and tastier than searing them in a pan or similar approach. Thank you.
Thank you Bob, I’m glad you liked it! Happy new year 🙂
Made this for new years !
It’s cooling now! So easy! Cooked in 9×9. Smells AMAZING
Thank you Andrea 🙂 Happy new year!
JB, that recipe is divine. I’m from Tasmania, so easy access to scallops. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve made it 6 times in the past 10 days. The flavour is exquisite.
6 times!!! That’s amazing! Thanks Kerryn 🙂
This was really good but be warned, between the butter, the heavy cream and the cheese, it’s a very rich dish.
I was serving this as a main instead of an appetizer so I doubled the size of the servings and by the time we got to 3/4th of our plates, we both felt it was a bit too heay for us.
Next time I’ll stick to appetizer portions!
Thanks JB and Nagi, this is really a simple but oh so yummy recipe. Made on Christmas day for entrees and again today just because I could. It will be a regular now for special dinners. Delicious!
Thank you Jeanette! Great to hear it was a hit!
Great!!!
Merci beaucoup!
WE HAD THIS FOR DINNER TONIGHT! BECHAMEL SAUCE WAS CREALY ULTRA- RICH GOOD. I HAVE BEEN MAKING COQUILLE ST……FOR YEARS. I LOVE THIS DISH. I BOUGHT ENOUGH SCALLOPS FOR NEXT WEEK TOO! MIGHT GO ASIAN STYLE SCALLOP DISH OR REMAIN IN FRANCE WITH COQUILLE ST.? WE NEVER KNOW IN ADVANCE WHATEVER WE WANT. SUCH A NICE RECIPE!
Thank you!! 🙂
Merci JB. Ma famille a trouvé ce plat excellent. Il est très facile à réaliser. Je suis une grande fan de Recipetineats depuis la première heure.
Merci pour ce gentil commentaire Colette!
A very big hit for my husband’s birthday. The grandchildren licked their plates clean! They rated at has a 9.2, I lost 0.8 because they decided they liked Scallops and wanted more of them in the dish 😁
Thanks Julie! 9.2 is close to perfect!
What an exquisite dish! I’ve made Coquilles Saint Jacques several times over the years and this was far easier and so delicious that it’s going to be a regular special occasion dish. My husband loved it for his birthday dinner this evening!
Thank you Nancy! Glad you loved it 🙂
Hi JB, this was not only easy but so delicious – my husband said they were the best scallops he’s ever had. One technical question though, why do you swap to a serrated knife to cut the eschalot initially, before returning to the chefs knife?
Hi Leanne, I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Great question on the knife. We often start with a small serrated Victorinox knife for eschalots or onions because it bites through the flesh cleanly without crushing the flesh. Those little Victorinox knives are actually one of our favourite tools here, they stay sharp far longer than many paring knives and are brilliant for delicate jobs like this. Once the eschalot is split and the scales dealt with, we switch back to the chef’s knife for clean, even slicing. It’s not essential, but it makes the prep easier.
Thankyou for your reply JB, I have a few Victorinox serrated knives and the blunt one (after many years of use) is perfect for my 3 year old to help prep veggies. The folding version of it is also great when travelling. I’ll definitely be using the sharp one to prep onions now!
Your recipe needs one small correction – leftovers?!?!
Made it in an 8×8 Pyrex pan, friends tried to lick the pan clean. No leftovers here
Haha! That was the plan 🙂
I really enjoyed this!!! Recipe was easy to follow and the dish was delicious. Will be making this again.
Thank you for the lovely comment Birma!!
Made this tonight, very nice, used Swiss browns, worked very well. Thumbs up all round
Thanks David!
Great recipe. Used the frozen scallops from Coles which are from Hokkaido Japan. Turned out very good. Highly recommended
Thank you Paul, I’m glad it’s a winner!
This is a perfect recipe for me! My local fish market right now has fresh local scallops in the shell. if I wash the shells, can I use them? And is Comte OK as well?
Hi Lisa, yes and yes! the shells will be totally usable and comté is a great substitute 🙂
I put the whole batch into one big tapas dish and served it as a share plate at a get-together alongside crusty baguette slices to soak up the juices. So delicious! It was very easy too because I keep cubes of roasted mushroom duxelles In the freezer ready to be dropped into anything that needs a mushroom boost so I just used a couple of those. The scallops release some liquid so it’s important to let it stand after it comes out of the oven so it can thicken up again. I’m going to dry-age the scallops next time. It’s a winner.
Thank you Chris! So glad it worked out well! Great trick on the frozen duxelles 🙂