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Broiled Lobster Tail with Garlic Lemon Butter

Broiled lobster tail is a simple yet elegant dish, featuring tender, succulent meat with a golden, buttery crust. It's naturally sweet, briny flavor pairs beautifully with melted butter and fresh lemon, making it perfect for special occasions or an indulgent treat.

Broiled lobster tail on a plate with a potato and broccoli.


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If you love this easy Broiled Lobster tail recipe, try my Lobster Mac and Cheese dish. It's another perfect recipe for date night to enjoy. 

Why This Recipe Works

Homemade Lobster Tails are cheaper to eat at home. While lobster tails are incredibly tasty, when you order them out at a restaurant, you will pay an arm and a leg. Instead, save a bunch of your hard earned money and learn to broil lobster tails at home with ease once you've tried this easy recipe.  

Broiling the lobster tails is the best way to make them. The high heat gets them nice and tender so every garlic lemon flavored bite just melts in your mouth. 

 


Let's Gather The Ingredients

All the ingredients for broiled lobster tail.
  • Lobster Tails: I used frozen tails that I thawed out 
  • Butter: stick to unsalted since we are adding salt
  • Herbs and spices: Garlic cloves, salt, black pepper, fresh parsley, and optional cayenne pepper 

How To Make Broiled Lobster tails

Lobster shell being cut with scissors for easy removal.
  • Step 1: Place lobster tails on the cutting board and use kitchen shears to cut down the center of the shell to the tail fin to butterfly lobster tails. 
  • Step 2: Once you've cut down to the fin, turn the shears out, and make a small cut, and repeat going the opposite direction, making another cut.  
Raw lobster tail being cut out of the shell and placed on top to broil.
  • Step 3: Use your fingers to loosen the meat. 
  • Step 4: Pull the meat out of the butterflied lobster tails and set on top of the shell.
Melted garlic butter in a small bowl and brushed on top of lobster tails.
  • Step 5: In a small bowl, melt the butter. Add garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper to the melted butter and stir. 
  • Step 6: Transfer tails to baking sheet.
  • Step 7: Add salt, pepper, and use a pastry brush to brush lemon garlic butter sauce on top of the tail meat. Broil tails, then apply more sauce and broil again. 
  • Step 8: Garnish with parsley and enjoy your perfect lobster tail.
Melted garlic butter drizzled on top of broiled lobster.

Recipe Tips

  • Cooking time can vary greatly depending on the size of your tails and the temperature of your oven, so keep an eye on them and always check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer to ensure they're done cooking.
  • While you could use plain butter, making your own flavored butter with herbs and spices really helps amp up the deliciousness factor of these lobster tails even more.  
  • If you don't have fresh garlic cloves, add some garlic powder to the butter mixture. 
  • Reserve a few tablespoons of butter mixture for dipping.
A bite of lobster on a fork being dipped in butter.

Recipe Faq's

How to thaw frozen lobster

It's best to slow thaw your lobster tails before you plan to cook them, place your lobster tails in the refrigerator on a plate the day before. To speed up this process place the tails in a large ziplock freezer bag sealed and place in a bowl of iceย cold water
.

How can I tell if my lobster is done?

Your tails are done when the color of the meat turns from translucent to white or opaque, lobster tail is done when the internal temp is 140-145 degrees you don't want to overcook as it will become tough and chewy. Keep in mind tails will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat source.

How far should my oven racks be from the broiler?

You want theย oven rack to be about 6-8 inches away. Close enough to get cooked yet not burnt. ย 

What to serve with lobster tails

Serve alongside aย Filet Mignonย with some roasted broccoli and ciabatta bread for the perfect dinner!ย 

Lobster tail on a plate with butter dripped on top.

Broiled Lobster Tails with Garlic Lemon Butter

4.41 from 64 votes
Written By: Wendie
Broiled lobster tail is a simple yet elegant dish, featuring tender, succulent meat with a golden, buttery crust. It's naturally sweet, briny flavor pairs beautifully with melted butter and fresh lemon, making it perfect for special occasions or an indulgent treat.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 3
Calories 220

Ingredients
  

  • 3- 6 ounce lobster tails thawed
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper optional
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon juice
  • salt
  • pepper
  • Fresh chopped parsley

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl melt butter, garlic, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Reserve 1/3 of the mixture for dipping.
  • Using kitchen shears cut down the shell to the fin, once at the fin turn the shears and make a tiny cut, then turn the shears the opposite direction and make another tiny cut. (see pics above in the post for reference) Slide your fingers under the shell and loosen the meat. Pull meat out of the shell and place it on top of the shell.
  • Preheat the broiler and move the oven rack about 6-8 inches below the broiler.
  • Season with salt and pepper and brush garlic butter sauce over the top of the meat.
  • Broil 5 minutes, then brush more garlic butter sauce over the top. Broil another 3-4 minutes, or until white and opaque and internal temp reaches 140 degrees.
  • Garnish with fresh chopped parsley

Notes

If your lobster tails are smaller or larger you'll want to adjust the time a little bit.

Nutrition

Serving: 3ServingsCalories: 220kcalCarbohydrates: 0.2gProtein: 4gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 281mgPotassium: 57mgFiber: 0.01gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 701IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 0.1mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!
Course Entrees
Cuisine American
4.41 from 64 votes (64 ratings without comment)

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2 Comments

  1. BROILED LOBSTER TAILS WITH GARLIC LEMON BUTTER - under ingredients, Iโ€™m not sure what you mean by 3/4 cube of butter. Please clarify. Thank you.