Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
I grew up in Texas, and I went to cooking school in Vermont, and I know that some places in the northeast are part of “New England”, and others are not. Lobster rolls are popular throughout the coastal northeast of North America, and I am going to go out on a limb and say they are a New England thing, but Maine and Connecticut do them differently. I live in Toronto now, and I’m doing them in a hybrid sort of way, which is also delicious. It all really revolves around butter. If you dislike mayo, just ignore the mayo and use butter, and that will work out just great.
One of the most important parts of the lobster roll experience is the buttery, pan-toasted roll itself, which is traditionally a split-top, brioche roll. These are really only widely available in the region, so if you’re not in New England, you may need to improvise, as we did. If you get the real deal, toast its long outsides, which should generally be open crumb, since the buns press up against each other while baking. (They look like hotdog buns, but sliced open on top inside of at the side, and yellow because they’re brioche.) Whatever you get, toast it with butter.
We chose to parboil frozen lobster tails. If you have fresh lobster, steam it however you like, and get the meat out. We took the parboiled meat and warmed it in butter, which finished the cooking process. Even if your meat is fully cooked, you should still warm it in butter. Then lift it out, allowing some butter to come along, and add the meat to the mayo dressing. If you do this in advance, you can use the leftover lobster butter to toast the buns.
Makes enough for 2-4 people, about 1.5 lobster tails per person.
Equipment:
• large skillet for pan-toasting
• smaller skillet for warming/poaching lobster in butter
• steamer or dutch oven/pasta pot for cooking raw lobster
• mixing bowl
Ingredients:
4 ea lobster tails 6-8 oz meat per tail
3 ea buns
1 ea lemon 1/2 juice, and zest
2-4 Tbsp chives or parsley, mitsuba
1/2 tsp tarragon optional, or chives if using parsley
1/4 cup butter 1/2 a stick
1/4 cup mayonnaise
to taste salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Steam the lobster tails for 2-3 minutes, until the albumen starts to appear, and then remove them and let them cool.
2. Chop the fresh herbs and place them in the mixing bowl along with the mayonnaise.
3. Zest the lemon and add the zest to the bowl.
4. Juice half the lemon and add it to the bowl.
5. Stir up the dressing and add a bit more mayo if it is too thin (or hold back some juice).
6. Get the two skillets warm.
7. Meanwhile, chop the tails lengthwise and take the meat out, or otherwise remove the lobster meat from the shells.
8. Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them in the large skillet.
9. Melt half a stick of butter in the smaller skillet and add the lobster meat pieces.
10. Warm the meat through in the butter while the rolls toast.
11. Add the meat to the dressing and toss. It’s okay to get some of that delicious butter in there, but be careful not to thin out your dressing too much.
12. Place the meat onto the buttery toasted buns, and enjoy.
13. I think that these sandwiches would probably also be excellent with some shredded iceberg, greenleaf or romaine lettuce and some extremely ripe tomato ... but then there would be less room for lobster.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
I grew up in Texas, and I went to cooking school in Vermont, and I know that some places in the northeast are part of “New England”, and others are not. Lobster rolls are popular throughout the coastal northeast of North America, and I am going to go out on a limb and say they are a New England thing, but Maine and Connecticut do them differently. I live in Toronto now, and I’m doing them in a hybrid sort of way, which is also delicious. It all really revolves around butter. If you dislike mayo, just ignore the mayo and use butter, and that will work out just great.
One of the most important parts of the lobster roll experience is the buttery, pan-toasted roll itself, which is traditionally a split-top, brioche roll. These are really only widely available in the region, so if you’re not in New England, you may need to improvise, as we did. If you get the real deal, toast its long outsides, which should generally be open crumb, since the buns press up against each other while baking. (They look like hotdog buns, but sliced open on top inside of at the side, and yellow because they’re brioche.) Whatever you get, toast it with butter.
We chose to parboil frozen lobster tails. If you have fresh lobster, steam it however you like, and get the meat out. We took the parboiled meat and warmed it in butter, which finished the cooking process. Even if your meat is fully cooked, you should still warm it in butter. Then lift it out, allowing some butter to come along, and add the meat to the mayo dressing. If you do this in advance, you can use the leftover lobster butter to toast the buns.
Makes enough for 2-4 people, about 1.5 lobster tails per person.
Equipment:
• large skillet for pan-toasting
• smaller skillet for warming/poaching lobster in butter
• steamer or dutch oven/pasta pot for cooking raw lobster
• mixing bowl
Ingredients:
4 ea lobster tails 6-8 oz meat per tail
3 ea buns
1 ea lemon 1/2 juice, and zest
2-4 Tbsp chives or parsley, mitsuba
1/2 tsp tarragon optional, or chives if using parsley
1/4 cup butter 1/2 a stick
1/4 cup mayonnaise
to taste salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Steam the lobster tails for 2-3 minutes, until the albumen starts to appear, and then remove them and let them cool.
2. Chop the fresh herbs and place them in the mixing bowl along with the mayonnaise.
3. Zest the lemon and add the zest to the bowl.
4. Juice half the lemon and add it to the bowl.
5. Stir up the dressing and add a bit more mayo if it is too thin (or hold back some juice).
6. Get the two skillets warm.
7. Meanwhile, chop the tails lengthwise and take the meat out, or otherwise remove the lobster meat from the shells.
8. Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them in the large skillet.
9. Melt half a stick of butter in the smaller skillet and add the lobster meat pieces.
10. Warm the meat through in the butter while the rolls toast.
11. Add the meat to the dressing and toss. It’s okay to get some of that delicious butter in there, but be careful not to thin out your dressing too much.
12. Place the meat onto the buttery toasted buns, and enjoy.
13. I think that these sandwiches would probably also be excellent with some shredded iceberg, greenleaf or romaine lettuce and some extremely ripe tomato ... but then there would be less room for lobster.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
