Once a poor man’s food, lobster has risen to luxury status. Its sweet, mild, briny flavor is especially delicious on a warm summer day. From a basic boil to refreshing salads and complex pastas, we’ve rounded up our favorite lobster recipes to class up a summer meal. For more on how to buy, prepare, and cook with lobster, see our Lobster Ingredient Guide »
The most simple way to serve lobster is simply to boil it and serve it with clarified butter. To give the lobster and butter combination a summer twist, try splitting the lobster in half and grilling it. Slathering each half with compound butter made with cilantro and chile or garlic and parsley allows the meat to gently poach to a perfect tenderness.
The lobster roll, a simple lobster salad on a split-top bun, is a New England specialty. It’s often made with mayonnaise, but we feel a butter sauce better lets the flavor of the lobster shine through. Jacque Pepin’s version is flavored simply with tarragon and lemon juice, while our brown butter version gives the meat a warm, nutty flavor.
For a heartier lobster dish, turn to pasta. Our spaghetti all’astice is a simple Venetian dish or lobster tossed with garlic, fresh ripe tomatoes, and white wine. Or try our bucatini ai frutti di mare, packed with lobster, clams, shrimp, and squid.
Find all of these dishes and more in our collection of lobster recipes.
Buying fresh, live lobster and good-quality buns will result in the most delicious lobster rolls. Look for live crustaceans from Maine that have all their claws and antennae intact, and toast fresh, squishy buns on a griddle with butter before filling and serving. Get the recipe for The Best Connecticut Lobster RollsMatt Taylor-Gross
This spicy seafood pasta features large pieces of sweet lobster tossed with bucatini and a fresh, flavorful tomato sauce. Get the recipe for Lobster Fra Diavolo »Todd Coleman
This classic pasta, from award-winning chef Fulvio Pierangelini at his restaurant, Irene, in Florence, Italy, is enriched with the lobsters’ coral, or roe sac. It adds a pop of briny flavor to the pasta, but can be omitted if the lobsters you buy don’t contain it. Get the recipe for Lobster Linguine with Chiles »Christina Holmes
Sweet, tender pieces of lobster and beets are topped with a rich asparagus cream sauce in this recipe from Oyster Club in Mystic, Connecticut. Get the recipe for Oyster Club’s Lobster »Farideh Sadeghin
Kippy Young, the Maine lobsterman who gave us this recipe, advised us to boil the lobsters in seawater, but salted water works just as well. Get the recipe for Boiled Lobster »Nicole Franzen
Champagne goes especially well with cream-based soups like this one because the wine’s effervescence offers such a pleasing contrast with their silky texture. The recipe for this luxurious bisque is based on one in La Cuisine by Raymond Oliver (Leon Amiel, 1969). Get the recipe for Lobster Bisque »Nicole Franzen
This simple, understated appetizer is a combination of preserved lemon, tarragon, olive oil, and lobster. Get the recipe for Lobster Cocktail »Farideh Sadeghin
Here is Jacques Pepin’s French twist on New England’s classic lobster roll—sans mayo, but bathed in warm butter with lots of fresh tarragon. Get the recipe for Lobster Roll »SAVEUR
Lobster meat, cream, and cayenne are chilled in a lobster-shaped mold to make this airy hors d’oeuvre, which can be garnished to create a whimsical appearance. Get the recipe for Lobster Mousse (Mousseline de Homard) »Ingalls Photography
Butter and loads of herbs make a lobster pan-roast even more lavish; a flambée with bourbon lends as much flavor as it does drama. Get the recipe for Bourbon-Roasted Lobster »Helen Rosner
While Lobster Newburg was first served New York City’s Delmonico’s restaurant in 1876, Boston’s Union Oyster House does a first-rate job with the dish, incorporating not just lobster, but scallops, shrimp, and a vol-au-vent, a puff-pastry shell filled with creamy Newburg sauce. Get the recipe for Seafood Newburg (Lobster, Scallops, and Shrimp in Sherry Cream Sauce) »Ingalls Photography
Fresh Maine lobster stars in this exceptionally creamy risotto flavored with garlic and sorrel. The addition of mascarpone and butter, stirred in after cooking, provides a rich tang and velvety texture. Get the recipe for Lobster Risotto »Farideh Sadeghin
Besides salt, you can use seaweed or sand to form a bed for any shellfish on the half shell. For a rustic, low-country feel, pile your fish into a multi-tiered galvanized metal server like this one by Benzara. Get the recipe for Grilled Seafood Tower »Michael Turek
Fresh sweet summer corn and lobster are on display in this creamy New England chowder, subtly spiced with cayenne and black pepper. Get the recipe for Lobster and Corn Chowder »Nicole Franzen
