Spiny Lobster
intro
Succulent sweet spiny lobster tails baked with fragrant garlic butter, bright lemon, and fresh herbs for a luxurious, restaurant-quality seafood meal at home.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep lobster tails
First, preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F). Use sharp kitchen shears to cut lengthwise through the top hard shell of each spiny lobster tail, stopping 1cm from the tail fin to keep the base intact. Gently pry the split shell open, loosen the raw lobster meat from the shell walls with a clean finger, and lift the meat so it rests on top of the shell, leaving the very end attached to the tail fin. Pat all exposed meat dry with paper towels to help butter adhere.
Make garlic butter
Melt 113g unsalted butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat (heat level 3/10). Add 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic, and cook for 90 seconds, stirring frequently, until fragrant and pale golden—do not let garlic turn dark brown, as it will develop a bitter flavor. Remove the pan from heat, then stir in 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Season lobster tails
Arrange the prepped lobster tails on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them 5cm apart for even air flow. Brush the exposed lobster meat evenly with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, then spoon ¾ of the warm garlic butter mixture over each tail, ensuring the butter coats the top of the meat and drips slightly into the shell cavity.
Bake to doneness
Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated 220°C (425°F) oven. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the lobster meat turns opaque pearlescent white, is firm to a light touch, and reaches an internal temperature of 63°C (145°F) when measured with an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat. Avoid overcooking, as spiny lobster meat will turn tough and rubbery if left in the oven too long.
Finish with herb butter
Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and immediately spoon the remaining ¼ of the garlic butter over the hot lobster tails. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the chopped fresh parsley evenly over the top of each tail, reserving 1 tablespoon for final garnish. Let the lobster rest for 2 minutes at room temperature to allow the butter to absorb into the meat.
Plate and serve
Transfer the rested spiny lobster tails to 4 warm dinner plates, garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and place 1 fresh lemon wedge alongside each tail. Serve immediately while hot, with small ramekins of extra melted butter for dipping if desired.
Tips
2.If using frozen spiny lobster tails, thaw them fully in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking; do not thaw in hot water, as this will partially cook the meat edges and lead to uneven, tough texture.
3.Spiny lobsters do not have large, meaty claws like cold-water Maine lobsters, so all the edible sweet meat is contained in the tail—reserve leftover shells to make rich, briny seafood stock if desired.
OMG this garlic butter lobster tail recipe was the star of our anniversary dinner earlier this week! My husband kept going back for seconds even though we each had two tails, oops. The butter had just the right amount of garlic punch without overpowering the sweet lobster meat—total game changer. I added a tiny squeeze of lemon at the end like my grandma used to and *chef’s kiss*. Will 100% be making this for our next dinner party!
Super solid recipe, worked way better than the boil method I usually use for spiny lobster tails. Only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is I overcooked mine by 2 minutes because my oven runs hot, so the edges got a little chewy. Flavor was still on point though, garlic butter is so rich and coats every bite perfectly. Good for a fancy weeknight meal when you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.
Brought these to our neighborhood potluck this past weekend and people were literally asking me for the recipe before they even finished their first bite! My kids loved it, even ate all of theirs without complaining, which is a miracle because they usually turn their noses up at any seafood that isn’t fried fish sticks. SO good, the garlic butter is so addictive I was dipping my sourdough in the leftover pan drippings.
Taste was great but I struggled a little with splitting the spiny lobster tails properly before baking? I ended up cracking a few of the shells weird so the butter leaked out onto the baking sheet a bit. Wish there was a quick step-by-step photo for the prep part because I’m a total newbie when it comes to cooking lobster. Still edible, just messy.
Wait I never thought to bake spiny lobster tails for meal prep? I made a batch on Sunday, portioned them out with roasted asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, and they reheated so well in the air fryer all week! The garlic butter didn’t get all weird and greasy like I was worried it would. Perfect for when you want fancy work lunches without the fancy price tag of eating out every day.
Usually I grill all my seafood but it poured rain on our weekend cookout yesterday so I pivoted to this baked recipe instead and wow, I might not go back to grilled lobster tails! The garlic butter soaks into the meat way better when it’s baked low and slow like this. Served it with drawn butter and corn on the cob, all my buddies raved about it.
Made this for my third date last night and I think I locked in a partner lmao. They kept saying it was the best lobster they’d ever had, and I didn’t even tell them it only took 25 minutes total! I used salted butter instead of unsalted because that’s all I had in the fridge, and it still turned out perfectly balanced. 10/10 will be in my regular date night rotation from now on.