Sous Vide Lobster Tail (Butter Poached)
Cooking lobster tail sous vide is a game-changer. Butter-poached in a sealed bag with just 3 ingredients, you get tender, juicy lobster every time without the stress of overcooking. No searing, no fussing, no rubbery texture.
The only decision to make is your preferred cooking temperature. Once you nail that (options below), this may become your go-to for Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, birthdays, or any other special occasion.
What to expect
For this lobster sous vide recipe, all you need is 3 ingredients – lobster tails, butter, and tarragon. Check out the variations for herbs and how to use the lobster.
The only fiddly part is removing the lobster meat from the shell before cooking. We have a video in the recipe card to help if needed.
It’s best to experiment with the cooking temperature to achieve the texture and doneness you like best. The recipe includes several options to start with.
Bottom line: Once you decide on the temperature, you are sure to get tender, juicy lobster tails exactly how you like them. No guesswork. No overcooking. No stress.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
- Lobster: Buy frozen lobster tails with the shell on. A good size range is 5-11 ounces per tail (141 – 311 grams). Bigger is not better. See FAQs for the best type.
- Fresh herbs: Tarragon is classic with lobster. Other good options are chives, cilantro, dill, oregano, and herbes de Provence. If you don’t have fresh herbs, use a pinch of dried herbs (you don’t want to overpower the delicately flavored lobster meat)
- Butter: I use salted butter (and no extra salt), but you can also use unsalted butter with a scant pinch of salt.
Step-by-step instructions
Cook Time and Temperature
Choosing the best temperature is the only guesswork you will have the first time you make the recipe. You will need to experiment based on these options to find your sweet spot.
- 130F/54.4C: slightly translucent, sashimi-like texture that some sous vide enthusiasts prefer
- 136F-138F/57.8-59C: tender, succulent, little to no translucence (138-140F is my preference)
- 140F/60C: tender, slightly firmer, similar to a steamed lobster
- 150F/65.6C: firm, closer to traditional texture
You can, of course, try any temperatures in between.
How to serve sous vide lobster tails
The beauty of this lobster tail recipe is that it can be simply served as buttery lobster tail on its own with the butter pouch liquid (or extra butter) and a squeeze of lemon.
Other ways to use lobster meat
- lobster rolls, served in traditional hot dog buns
- a risotto topping: sprinkle the diced butter-poached lobster meat over this instant pot lemon asparagus risotto.
- an appetizer – cut the lobster tail into bite-sized pieces and serve with toothpicks.
- a surf and turf dinner (drop a steak in a sous vide bag into the same water bath 1 hour before you put the lobster in)
Side dishes to serve with lobster tail
- Creamy KFC coleslaw or spicy, crunchy Asian coleslaw
- Easy creamed spinach (15 min)
- Salad with grilled (or roasted) vegetables and quinoa (3 sides in 1)
- Lemon risotto with grilled vegetables (Instant Pot)
- Roasted zucchini
- And don’t forget a nice cold glass of white wine or beer!
Sous vide vs. traditional cooking methods
While lobster tails can successfully be grilled, boiled, steamed or baked, these more traditional methods all have one drawback in common. It’s simply too easy to get overcooked lobster with a rubbery texture, especially if you’re cooking lobster tails for the first time or infrequently.
The sous vide method uses precise temperatures that will cook the lobster tails in a sous vide water bath to the exact doneness you choose, every time. With such an expensive delicacy, this is a huge stress reducer. It’s the easiest way for pretty much guaranteed perfection.
Recipe FAQs
Most would say 5-12 ounces (141-340g) is the best size per tail. Some believe tails in the smaller range are sweeter and more tender.
Look for cold-water tails (from Canada or Maine). They have sweeter, whiter meat and a cleaner taste than warm-water varieties, which can get mushy. Buy frozen rather than fresh unless you have a trusted fishmonger. “Previously frozen” at the fish counter is fine – that’s often what it is anyway. Check the label: avoid tripolyphosphate (a preservative) and any discoloration or black spots on the meat.
Figure 5-10 ounces (141-283 grams) per person, depending on what you can afford and how big your eaters are. Lobster with butter is quite rich, so take that into account. One to two tails per person is a good portion size.
Removing the meat allows the tails to be surrounded by butter and herbs while cooking – the whole point of butter poaching. Also, if leaving the shells on, there’s a chance they will puncture the bag. If you need to cook from frozen, you will have to leave the shell on and add 30 minutes to the cook time (remove the meat after cooking).
No. For this recipe, regular salted or unsalted butter works perfectly well. Clarifying removes the milk solids, which matters when you’re frying at high heat, but since you’re poaching at low temperature here, it won’t affect the flavor or texture. It will give the butter sauce a slightly cleaner, clearer appearance if that matters to you. Here’s how to clarify the butter if that’s important to you.
It would be difficult to remove the meat from a frozen tail, so it’s better to defrost the tails first. However, cooking a lobster tail from frozen is possible if you keep the shell on while cooking. Just add 30 minutes to the cook time. Then remove the tail meat after the cooking process.
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Sous Vide Lobster Tail
Equipment
- sous vide device (sous vide machine or immersion circulator)
- sous vide water bath (large pot or plastic container)
- bag (ziplock plastic bags or vacuum seal bag)
Ingredients
- 2 -3 lobster tails, thawed, Note 1 and 2
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 stem of fresh tarragon, Note 3
Instructions
- HEAT SOUS VIDE WATER BATH: to your desired temperature, Note 4.
- REMOVE TAIL MEAT FROM SHELLS: Using a kitchen shears or scissors, cut down the middle of the underside of the shell. Pry both sides of the shell open on both sides with your fingers, cracking the shell open. Use a soup spoon (glide it between the meat and the shell) to pry the meat out of the shell. Or use your fingers to pry it out. Here's a video on how to remove the tail from the shell.
- BAG LOBSTER TAIL MEAT: Place lobster meat in a ziplock bag (to use the water displacement method). Add 3 tablespoons butter and tarragon or another herb. If the butter is unsalted, add a pinch of salt. Alternatively, use a vacuum seal bag and seal with a vacuum sealer.
- SOUS VIDE LOBSTER: Cook lobster tails in sous vide water bath for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- FINISH AND SERVE: Remove lobster tails from bag. Pour pouch liquid into a shallow bowl, place lobster tail(s) on top, sprinkle with parsley or tarragon and squeeze on lemon juice or serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe Notes
- How to buy lobster tails: buy 2-3 tails for two people, depending on size. Figure 2 per person if 4-6 ounces (113-170 grams) or one per person if 7-12 ounces (198-340 grams). If possible, buy the superior cold-water lobster tails, avoiding packages that say tripolyphosphate (preservative) on them.
- How to thaw lobster tail (2 options):Â
- Defrost overnight in fridge, orÂ
- Place in bowl of cold water (you can put them in a bag if you like) for 10-15 minutes.Â
- Fresh herbs: If you don’t have or like tarragon, try fresh chives, oregano, dill or cilantro. Or a pinch of dried herbs like herbes de provence.Â
- Temperature setting for sous vide bath. Experiment to find the best temperature for you.Â
- 130F/54.4C: tender, juicy, slightly translucentÂ
- 136F-138F/57.8-59C: tender, succulent, little to no translucence (138-140F is my preference)
- 140F/60C: tender, slightly firmer, similar to a steamed lobster
- 150F/65.6C: firm, closer to traditional texture
- Make ahead:Â
- To store. Remove from sous vide water bath, plunge bag into an ice bath for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to fridge for 2-3 days. OR remove from bag, place in an airtight container and keep in fridge for up to 4 days (if lobster is removed from the shell).
- To reheat: place lobster in ziplock bag, heat sous vide machine or water bath to 120F/49C, submerge bag using water displacement method and rewarm for abut 20 minutes.
Just made this for dinner – for no particular occasion – but oh so good. and easy as pie (easier than pie for sure).
Glad you liked it Kathy. You see I wasn’t kidding about the easy part!