Broiled Lobster Tail With Creamy Butter Sauce

Once you learn how to cook lobster tail, you’ll want to make it all of the time. It’s so easy and so delicious! Lobster tails are great served with Brussels Sprout Salad, Baked Potatoes and Glazed Carrots. Don’t forget to add some 30 Minute Dinner Rolls to sop up the delicious garlic butter!

An Easy Lobster Tail Dinner

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, chances are you are thinking of what you could make for a romantic dinner. You could go out, wait in long lines, or make reservations months in advance, pay exorbitant prices, and have a fantastic night. OR, you could stay in, with a bottle of your favorite wine, or a delicious cocktail, and make a dish that is both easy and delicious–Lobster Tail with an easy Garlic Butter sauce!

Cooking Lobster tails is one of those things most people don’t even try themselves, but should. Once you learn how to make lobster tail at home, you’ll realize that it is far simpler than you thought! You just need the following:

Kitchen shears
A baking dish
An oven set to broil

The shears are used to butterfly the lobster, and the baking dish to cook it! Truthfully, preparing lobster tails at home only takes about 10 -15 minutes. And just think of the savings!

How to Buy Lobster

If you want great broiled lobster tails, you have to start with great lobster. I have written an entire post on what you need to know about buying lobster tails so you don’t waste your money on lobster that is going to turn out mushy, flavorless, or tasting like ammonia. The three most important things to know:

Buy cold water lobster tails
Check for discoloration on the meat
Avoid tails soaked in sodium tripolyphosphate.

How to Cook Lobster Tail

Once you have purchased a quality lobster tail, it is time to cook it. What is the best way to cook lobster tail? There are a ton of ways to cook lobster, from baking to air frying, to boiling, to steaming. Grilled lobster tail is popular, but honestly, broiling is the best way to cook lobster tail! You can learn about other methods for cooking lobster here. To broil lobster in the oven, follow these three easy steps:

Thaw the lobster tail just before cooking. You can do this by submerging it in water (cold or lukewarm), or by refrigerating it for 1 day before preparing. Do not thaw too soon, as it does not keep well.
Butterfly lobster tail (instructions below), and clean it.
Cover lobster tail with your butter sauce. And broil until finished.

Serve with a simple tossed salad and elegant looking fondant potatoes for the perfect meal!

How to Butterfly a Lobster Tail

With shell-side up, point lobster tail away from you.
Take your kitchen shears, and start at the center of the shell, and cut toward the end of the tail, cutting the shell and the top of the lobster meat.
Stop cutting when you hit the base of the tail.
Flip the tail over and using your thumbs, press down on the center all along the bottom of the tail. This is called cracking the ribs.
Flip back over.
Carefully insert your thumb between the shell and the meat, and loosen the meat, detaching it from the sides. Be careful so you don’t cut your fingers on the sharp shell.
Loosen the sides, but leave the meat attached to the base of the shell.
Lift the meat up and out of the shell, and set it on top of the shell, while keeping it attached to the base.

Now it should look pretty, like how it is served at a restaurant, and you can move forward with the cooking of the lobster.

How Long to Broil Lobster

Broiling lobster tails is a great way to cook lobster, it is quick, easy, and mostly hands free. But over-cooking lobster is the only way to ruin it. So paying attention to the cooking time is critical. The rule of thumb is to broil for about a minute to a minute and a half per ounce, with the lobster tail being 4-5 inches from the heat or on the top rack. But to get it right, use a meat thermometer. You want the lobster meat to be opaque and white in center, and reach 145˚F.

Broiling Times for Lobster Tails

Count on 5 to 9 minutes to cook smaller lobster tails (around 4 ounces). Lobster tails that are closer to 6 ounces will take approximately 10 to 11 minutes broiling time, and lobster tails that about 8 ounces will cook in about 12 to 15 minutes. Again, use a meat thermometer so that you cook them just right, to 145˚F.

If you’re cooking a larger lobster tail, you’ll want to move the rack down one space in the oven so it doesn’t brown too much.

More Seafood Recipes You’ll Love

Herb Crusted Baked Salmon – Easy and impressive!
Lemon Shrimp Linguine
Bang Bang Shrimp – Great as an appetizer!
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
Easy Fish Tacos – Family favorite!

If by chance you have any leftover lobster tail, you can add Easy Lobster Bisque to your repertoire! Keep the shells to get the best flavor possible.