No Fail Perfect Butter Poached Lobster Tail

This Butter Poached Lobster Tail recipe is a restaurant-quality lobster tail recipe! It produces tender lobster every time with very little effort! Perfect for a special occasion.

If I’ve ever made you this butter poached lobster recipe, know that I love you very much! This is one of my most prized recipes. I love to make this luxurious dish for special occasions, holiday dinners, or date nights at home.

It’s exactly the recipe you need for that upcoming date night or Valentine’s Day! Impressive, but not hard to make. We love that, right?

” I tried this recipe last night. I added juice from one lemon to the butter/water and a bit of “garlic wine butter spice” to the butter/water as well while it was heating up. I didn’t use the sticks. What a fantastic recipe…and I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I did make sure I used a digital thermometer.“

Once I tried butter poaching lobster tails, I won’t use another method! There are so many different ways to cook lobster tails.

I’ve even seen recipes for air fryer lobster tails, but I stick with butter poaching because lobster is expensive and easy to overcook. So, I want to get it right! It only takes 30 seconds to take a lobster tail from perfectly cooked to overcooked. This is especially true when you’re cooking with high heat, like on a grill or under a broiler.

For this recipe, you’re effectively slow poaching the lobster tail meat in a beurre monte sauce. This is a classic French technique of adding butter to simmering water while whisking vigorously. Doing this keeps the butter from separating and emulsifies it into a cohesive poaching liquid that you can use to poach nearly anything at a low temperature.

If you’re a landlocked Midwesterner like me, it’s fine to buy your Maine lobsters at the grocery store. I prefer to buy them frozen, then thaw them myself. If you’re a lucky coastal dwellers, check out your local fish market!

Recipe Additions For Butter Sauce

Make sure you use high quality butter for this easy lobster recipe! I’ve kept the recipe simple, but here are some suggestions to enhance the butter bath:

• Add a splash of white wine.
• Add fresh herbs. I like rosemary, thyme or parsley.
• Add a clove of chopped garlic.
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice or lemon zest.
• A splash of heavy cream.
• A pinch of red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce to the butter broth for a bit of heat.

Best Side Dishes for Delicious Lobster Tails

This easy recipe is the perfect main course. I recommend pairing the sweet flavor of the lobster meat with simple sides, like:

• Julie’s Italian House Salad: Made with romaine lettuce and Parmesan cheese.
• Goat Cheese Twice Baked Potato with Herbs
• Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes
• White rice or rice pilaf
• French fries: A classic side dish with simple, French dishes!
• Crusty bread: Great for sopping up extra melted butter!
• Bisquick Cheddar Biscuits: Yes, these taste like the yummy biscuits at Red Lobster! Or, try this Air Fryer Garlic Bread.
• Fattoush Salad: This fresh, crisp salad combines tomato, lettuce, cucumber, radish and more fresh produce with a slightly sweet, acidic dressing. It’s the perfect side dish to balance out the richness of the lobster!
• Double up on the lobster by purchasing store-bought lobster ravioli or pasta and topping with this Creamy Sauce!

For me, the perfect dinner combines the buttery, sweet meat of the lobster with a crisp green salad. And, a nice glass of dry white wine!

I like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio with this lobster recipe.

Ways to use Leftover Lobster Meat (and Shells):

• Save the shells and simmer them in water for 1-2 hours to make lobster stock.
• Then, use the seafood stock to make lobster risotto or lobster bisque. Add bits of leftover lobster meat if you have it!
• Add to lobster mac and cheese
• Make a lobster salad for some tasty Maine Lobster Rolls
• Use in lobster tacos!

I hope that you love making these butter poached lobster tails! If you make them, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below.

No Fail Butter Poached Lobster Tail

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 6 minutes mins

Total Time: 26 minutes mins

Author: Michelle Goth

This Butter Poached Lobster Tail recipe is a decadent, fun cooking method that produces perfectly tender lobster every time! 

4.72 from 116 ratings

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Ingredients

 

½x1x2x

• ▢ 2 tablespoons water
• ▢ 1 pound butter, salted
• ▢ 4 lobster tails, 4-6 ounces each
• ▢ 1/2 lemon, juiced, optional

Instructions

 

• Prepare the lobster tails: Shuck the lobster tails. Using kitchen shears, cut up the middle of the inside of the tail. Then, gently pry the meat from the shell with your fingers. This is slow work, so allow for enough time to get it done without compromising the lobster meat. Rinse in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
• Skewer the lobster tails (optional): To keep the lobster from curling up, put it on a wooden or metal skewer. If your wooden skewer is too long, you can shorten it by breaking or cutting it to fit in your pot.
• Prepare the butter bath: To a large saucepan or Dutch oven, add water and heat over medium heat for about 1 minute.
• Reduce heat to low and add butter, whisk constantly. Do not allow the butter and water mixture to come to a boil. Add additions like lemon juice or garlic after the butter and water has emulsified into a creamy sauce.
• Poach the lobster: Add the lobster tails to the butter mixture and cook over low heat. Spoon butter over the top of the tails every 30 seconds. Cook for 6 minutes total (3 minutes on each side) flipping the tail in the middle of the cook time. Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to cook the tails in batches.
• Remove lobster tails from the pot when they hit 140 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend using an instant read thermometer for this.
• Serve warm.

Notes

The nutrition information is auto calculated on this recipe, and it is too high. Most of the butter will be leftover and not consumed, but it is still counted in the nutrition totals.

 

Save the lobster shells! They make a wonderful homemade stock that you can then use to make a delicious lobster bisque.

 

You are welcome to use unsalted butter for this recipe if that's what you have. Just add a hefty pinch of salt to the butter mixture. 

 

I prefer cold-water lobster tails for this recipe.

Serving: 1, Calories: 935kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 23g, Fat: 94g, Saturated Fat: 59g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 28g, Trans Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 320mg, Sodium: 922mg

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