Our easy Butter Poached Lobster Tails are a simple, but decadent holiday dish that is sure to impress! A great option for date nights or any special occasion!
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The Best Butter Poached Lobster
When it comes to the holidays it is so much fun to elevate your recipes and really make them special, BUT sometimes that means a lot of extra work! Not the case with these Butter Poached Lobster Tails! This buttery lobster is so incredibly simple, yet full of decadent flavor – perfect for Christmas Eve, Christmas Dinner, New Year’s Eve, or Valentine’s Day. Serve with any of your favorite side dish recipes, like Brussel Sprouts and Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes! These delicious lobster tails are super easy and butter poaching is definitely the best way to cook lobster!
Looking for another delicious seafood recipe? You have to try our Ultimate Dairy-Free Seafood Chowder!
What You Will Need
- ghee – to keep this simple recipe Whole30/Paleo compliant you want to use ghee, but feel free to sub with regular unsalted butter if that isn’t a concern for you.
- fresh lobster tails – we love to pick-up lobster tails at our local grocery store or seafood store, just make sure you fully thaw them before cooking.
- salt & pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must!
- pair of kitchen scissors
How To Make Butter Poached Lobster
The first steps to making this lobster tails recipe are to remove the lobster tail meat from the inside of the tails on a cutting board.
How Remove The Lobster Meat
Don’t be intimidated by that lobster shell! It isn’t difficult! First, use a pair of kitchen shears to cut down the full length of the underside of the tail, all the way to the tail fins. Then, simply use your hands to break the shell away and peel out the fresh lobster meat!
Now bring a large skillet to a medium heat and add the ghee or butter to melt. Poach lobster for about 1-3 minutes per side. For best results, try not to crowd the pan and cook in batches, if you need to.
Best Way To Serve With A Butter-Poached Lobster Tail
These tender lobster tails would be delicious with just about anything! First, make sure you have a dish of melted butter, ghee, or garlic butter sauce for dipping. Then a few side dishes that we love are a twice-baked potato, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, shaved brussel sprouts, or roasted broccolini! If you are looking for more options, we have a full list of 45+ Side Dish Recipes to checkout. Or make a surf and turf with some Grilled Steaks!
Recipe FAQ
Yes! Just follow the recipe card as-is with ghee, salt, and pepper.
This is up to your personal preference! We love to get the messy part out of the way before cooking, so we crack and pull the lobster meat out first. You can cook the lobster tails with the shell still on, but it will take a little longer and the shells will be a little buttery and slippery to handle after cooking.
Absolutely! These are perfect for making seafood stock. If you have all the ingredients on hand you can make it right away or store them in an airtight container in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
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Other Seafood Recipes You Might Like
Butter Poached Lobster
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
A simple, but decadent butter poached lobster recipe! This holiday or date night dish is sure to impress!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup ghee (sub butter), plus additional for dipping
- 2 or more cold water lobster tails, thawed
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
Instructions
- Using a pair of sharp kitchen shears, cut down the underside of the lobster tail.
- Using your hands, pull apart the shell and fully remove the lobster meat inside.
- Place on a plate and pat dry with clean paper towels.
- Repeat with all the lobster tails you are cooking. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
- Add ghee (or butter) to a large cast iron skillet and bring to medium-high heat.
- Once ghee is hot, carefully place lobster into pan and allow to cook 1-3 minutes per side or until meat is no longer translucent. Once fully cooked, remove, and place on plate.
- If you are going multiple batches, add additional ghee to the pan, as necessary.
- Serve immediately with additional melted ghee for dipping.
Notes
- Amount: Feel free to cook as many lobster tails as you want!
- Shells: You can certainly leave the tails on during the cooking process, it does add extra flavor to the dish. It really comes down to personal preference, I just like to be able to serve and eat right away. If you choose to leave the shells on while you cook just add an extra minute or two to the cook time.
- Poaching Method: there are 3 different poaching methods – we are using the Shallow-Poach method here where the lobster isn’t fully submerged.
LaTonya Sykes says
I am going to try this. It really looks delicious and easy to do.
Janet Fitzgerald says
Where do you find the lobsters?
mason stone says
very good…SIMPLE..mass-flavor..5 all day
Erin says
So glad to hear that!!!