There's nothing better than this creamy lobster risotto made at home that copies the Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen recipe. I have always loved the look (and tantalizing taste!) of the creamy risotto rice dish and I have spent MANY hours perfecting this popular copycat recipe for you to make at home.
Serve immediately, garnished with optional Parmigiano and chives or parsley. See all of my favorite risotto side dishes here.
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So, what else would a foodie do but try to find and match the particulars of Gordon's HK hit dish? After many attempts, I have this delightful lobster risotto perfected!
The recipe shared below is indeed very close to the recipe used for the lobster risotto seen on the show.
Any modifications and/or personal preferences will be noted in parentheses or in the recipe notes section.
If you're new to making risotto, check out the guide to making the perfect risotto every time! You can also read my tips for getting the best rice for risotto too!
🥘 Ingredients
For the best flavor I give the instructions for making your own lobster stock. Alternately, you can use a store bought lobster, fish, or seafood stock.
Quick Lobster Stock
- Water: 6 cups (or 5 cups water and 1 cup white wine)
- Lobster Shells: 1½ lbs (from about 3, 8 oz lobster tails)
- Onion: 1 medium, peeled and roughly chopped
- Carrot: 1, sliced
- Celery: 1 rib, sliced
- Tomato: 1, chopped (or 8 oz can crushed/diced tomatoes)
- Bay Leaf: 1
- Seasoning: Salt and pepper, to taste
Lobster Risotto
- Olive Oil: 1 tablespoon, extra virgin
- Shallots/White Onion: 1 tablespoon minced
- Garlic: 2 cloves, minced
- Arborio Rice: 1½ cups (or use Carnaroli rice)
- White Wine: ¼ cup, dry (used more, about ⅓ cup)
- Lobster Stock: 4 cups (from quick lobster stock, may use up to 6 cups)
- Lobster Meat: Diced, reserved from making stock
- Butter: 2 tablespoons, more as needed
- Mascarpone/Cream Cheese: 2 tablespoons (or 4 tablespoons cream cheese)
- Lemon Zest: From 1 whole lemon
- Seasoning: Salt and pepper, to taste
- Chives: 2 tablespoons, fresh, chopped
- Parmigiano Cheese: Shaved for garnish
Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!
🔪 How To Make Lobster Risotto
One of the most important aspects of a fabulous lobster risotto is using lobster shells for the stock. Taking the extra time to make your DIY stock for this risotto dish is rewarding!
Make A Quick Lobster Stock
- Bring 6 cups of water (for this recipe, 4 cups stock to 1 cup Arborio rice in general) to a rolling boil, then add the fresh or thawed lobster and boil for an additional 4 minutes. The internal temperature of the lobster should be 145 ºF ( 63 ºC ) as recommended by the FDA food safety guidelines.
- Remove the cooked lobster and plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking process. Next, remove the lobster meat, dice the meat, and refrigerate it until ready to add to the risotto.
- Return the lobster shells to the boiling water used for cooking the lobster. Add the vegetables to the boiling water and lobster shells: onion, carrot, celery, tomato, plus the bay leaf, and then salt and pepper.
- Reduce heat and simmer the broth for 20 minutes, then strain out the lobster shells, vegetables, and bay leaf.
(for the risotto) Return the broth to your saucepan and keep on medium heat to add to the risotto.
Make The Risotto
- Bring a large skillet or frying pan to medium heat, add olive oil, minced shallots, and minced garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes until the shallots and garlic are slightly softened. Add the Arborio rice and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the white wine.
- Stir for about a minute while cooking the wine, then add about one-third to half of the lobster stock to the skillet or frying pan of rice. *The lobster stock links contained in this text will take you to our 'How To Make Lobster Stock' page, which includes a video. The quick lobster stock instructions are on this page.
- Stir the rice occasionally, and cook for 3-5 minutes or until most of the lobster stock has been absorbed. Add the remaining lobster stock in portions (I use a ladle portion each time) until your Arborio rice is slightly translucent and still al denté (firm to the bite) in texture.
- It takes about 20 minutes once you start adding the lobster stock, and you should still be able to see a bit of the white core of the Arborio rice. Then you have achieved a nice al denté texture to your risotto.
- Once the risotto has the right texture, add the diced lobster meat, butter, mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese), lemon zest, and salt & pepper (to taste). Stir the ingredients together to incorporate them throughout the risotto until you have a creamy lobster risotto.
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💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Notes
- Heat the Stock: Keep your lobster stock warm in a pot while preparing the risotto. This helps maintain a consistent cooking temperature when added to the rice.
- Sauté Onions to Translucency: Cook the onions in butter until they are translucent before adding the rice. This step builds a flavorful base for the risotto.
- Gradual Addition of Broth: Add the hot broth to the rice one cup at a time, stirring continuously. Wait until each addition is almost fully absorbed before adding more.
- Stir in Lobster at the End: Add the lobster meat towards the end of cooking. This ensures it heats through without overcooking.
- Seasoning and Cheese: Finish the risotto with Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. The cheese adds creaminess and depth to the flavor.
❓ Can I Use Frozen Lobster For My Lobster Risotto?
Yes! You most certainly can! Please follow these important guidelines for cooking with frozen lobster:
- Always thaw frozen lobster completely before cooking.
- Lobster (and all seafood) should be thawed in the refrigerator overnight. Do not thaw in a sink of warm water!
- Cook lobster as directed here (once thawed) until the internal temperature is 145°F (63°C) as read by a digital meat thermometer. The meat will turn an opaque white color when done.
👨🍳 More Gordon Ramsay Copycat Recipes
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📖 Recipe Card
Lobster Risotto
There's nothing better than this creamy lobster risotto made at home that copies the Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen recipe! I have always loved the look (and tantalizing taste!) of the creamy risotto rice dish and have spent MANY hours perfecting this popular copycat recipe for you to make at home!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 425kcal
Prep 30 minutes
Cooking 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
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Ingredients
Quick Lobster Stock
- 6 cups water (or use 5 cups water/1 cup white wine)
- 1½ lbs lobster shells (I used 3, 8 oz lobster tails)
- 1 medium onion (peeled and rough chopped)
- 1 carrot (sliced)
- 1 rib celery (sliced)
- 1 tomato (chopped, or use an 8 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes)
- 1 bay leaf
- each, salt & pepper (to taste)
Lobster Risotto
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1 tablespoon shallots (or white onion - minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1½ cups Arborio rice
- ¼ cup white wine (dry white wine - we used more, closer to ⅓ c)
- 4 cups lobster stock (quick lobster stock instructions are above, or visit our 'How To Make Lobster Stock' page - may use up to 6 cups)
- diced lobster meat (reserved from lobster stock)
- 2 tablespoon butter (more, as needed)
- 2 tablespoon mascarpone cheese (I used 4 tablespoons of cream cheese)
- zest of 1 whole lemon
- salt & pepper (to taste)
- 2 tablespoon chives (fresh, chopped)
- parmigiano cheese (shaved)
Help Us Out!If you love a recipe, be sure to come back and share your ratings. This helps future users, and allows me to continue sharing free recipes! Angela
Instructions
Quick Lobster Stock
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add fresh or thawed lobster and continue to boil for 4 minutes. Remove lobster and plunge into ice water. Remove the lobster meat and dice for the risotto, then refrigerate. Return the shells to the boiling water.
- Add onion, carrot, celery, tomato, bay leaf then add salt & pepper to taste. Simmer the broth for 20 minutes then strain out the lobster shells, vegetables and spices. Reserve broth and keep on medium heat for use in the risotto.
Lobster Risotto
- Bring a large skillet or frying pan to medium heat, add olive oil, shallots and garlic. Cook until softened (1-2 minutes). Add the Arborio rice, cook (stirring occasionally) for 1-2 minutes before adding dry white wine.
- Add wine and cook for a minute, keeping the rice moving (stirring frequently). Add one-third to half of the lobster stock, cook (stirring occasionally) for 3-5 minutes until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Add the remaining lobster stock in ladled increments, allowing the rice to slowly absorb the liquid until the Arborio rice becomes slightly translucent and is an al dente firmness and the core can still be seen in the center (about 20 minutes total time once broth is added).
- Add the reserved diced lobster meat, butter, mascarpone cheese, lemon zest and salt & pepper (to taste). Stir vigorously until all ingredients are well combined and a thick, creamy risotto is achieved.
- Correct the seasoning (if necessary), serve and garnish with parmigiano and chives (if desired).
Notes
*In addition to our recipe modifications listed above in the ingredients and instructions, we added Parmesan cheese when we added the lobster and cream cheese (in addition to garnishing with the Parmesan cheese) to achieve the lobster risotto pictured with this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 425kcal (21%) | Carbohydrates: 66g (22%) | Protein: 6g (12%) | Fat: 13g (20%) | Saturated Fat: 6g (38%) | Cholesterol: 22mg (7%) | Sodium: 90mg (4%) | Potassium: 255mg (7%) | Fiber: 3g (13%) | Sugar: 3g (3%) | Vitamin A: 3195IU (64%) | Vitamin C: 8.8mg (11%) | Calcium: 39mg (4%) | Iron: 3.4mg (19%)
Did you try this recipe? Rate it below!I can’t wait to see your results! Mention @bake_it_with_love or tag #bake_it_with_love!
Joanne beaton says
Followed the recipe to a tee, including making the stock. Turned out amazing for our New Years Eve celebration. Thank you for sharing.
Wendy says
Hi I would like to stuff large shells with this and freeze them. I think maybe a little less liquid w egg and bread crumbs. I’d appreciate your thoughts.
I used to get them at my grocery store but they don’t carry them any longer.
They made an excellent appetizer.
Thank you.
Wendy in Jupiter
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I would make the risotto, let it cool and mix with an egg or just the yolk. Stuff the shells and top with a breadcrumb and melted butter mixture (just a tablespoon or two, only enough to moisten your breadcrumbs). Add seasoning if desired or just sprinkle over the stuffed shells. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on the top and bubbly around the edges. I like to mix some more Parmesan into the breadcrumbs when I use them too, maybe some lemon zest. 🙂 Enjoy!
Alexandra says
Thanks for the video! I’ve never done risotto before-I found it really helpful. I think I’ll make this for (Canadian) thanksgiving next month as my husband doesn’t like Turkey. Maybe I’ll give it a whirl with a mushroom risotto before then just so I get the vibe 🙂
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Thanks for sharing your success. 🙂 These are my husband's faves - this lobster risotto has been a standing favorite, followed by our mushroom risotto.
Denita Council says
😋 What made me google recipe, im watching Hell’s Kitchen now!! I will try your recipe!
Dan ABH says
Hey Angela! Very excited to make this. Would you recommend adding crab in addition to the Lobster? And could you use a Dutch Over to make the risotto instead of a frying pan or skillet?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Hi Dan, although I have done a crab risotto I have not added crab to this recipe. I do think it would work and taste great. If you were going to use a dutch oven on the stovetop that will also work perfectly! Thanks for the questions!
Jodi in Boston says
Hi, Jodi here again! Okay, I'm getting 6 lobster tails--I just want to be clear that we're talking about UNcooked frozen lobster tails OR live lobsters, yes? We're not talking about pre-cooked lobster. Thanks!!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, you'll need uncooked (thawed) lobster tails. Cooked lobster tails work too, but you don't need to cook them - you could still chop up the lobster tail and use the shells for stock. In this case you would skip the first two steps of making the lobster stock. Enjoy!
Jodi in Boston says
Hi - maybe I'm a moron, but I can't find where the recipe says how many lobsters I should buy for this! I will be making it for 8 people. Thanks!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Heya Jodi! It's under the lobster stock section "I used 3, 8 oz lobster tails". A bit more or less will still work very well. Enjoy!
Susan says
Made this lobster risotto and everyone raved about it. Will definitely recommend this recipe to everyone.
Shellie says
I'm the type of person that has to follow the recipe! Not great at modifications :). The only thing I would add if you're someone like me; is be careful of the size of your lemon. The first thing my family said was "whoa! Lemon!". It must've been too big. Also, it's better to have too much stock instead of running out. I started added water, more wine, etc. because my rice was still crunchy. I would almost double the amount of stock prep (if you're new to cooking like me). It was still good and I'll try it again!
Jeff says
This is spot a spot on Gordon Ramsay risotto. I am amazed about how good this is and easy to make!
Kathie says
I made this tonight for my family. I used 6 4 oz tails and added just a little extra water for absorption for veggies and added a teaspoon of lobster bouillon as someone else suggested and used mascarpone. This was PERFECT. Easy and amazing. Thanks I will be making this again.
Joan says
Haven't made this recipe, yet, but as to cooked lobsters vs raw, and fresh whole vs tails; for other similar recipes I always use fresh cooked Lobsters. After I get the meat out of the shell I proceed to use the bodies to make the broth according to the directions. Hope this helps.
Joe Raymond says
OMG...too delicious to let it sit in the pan! Made it for Valentine's dinner with some grilled Chilean Sea Bass and steamed asparagus...
We "started" with the 6 cups of water...and quickly realized that with boil-off and veggies absorbing it we should add more, so we added another cup of the white wine to the basic stock, When we strained everything out...it was JUST over 6 cups of stock...and we used all but maybe a quarter cup.
We also had a jar of truffle-butter from Williams-Sonoma waiting for an excuse to come from the pantry. It added and entirely different layer of flavor to this dish.
Loved every morsel...well done!
Thomas says
Amazingly good. Made for maine course on New Years. Easy recipe IF you have made risotto before. My personal take was a touch of cayenne pepper to add a touch of heat. Also, we had pre-cocked frozen Lobster that we thawed, and mad stock from the shells. Works just as great as fresh lobster. Will most certainly make this risotto again.
Breanna says
Not nearly enough stock. Luckily I hadn’t tossed the veggies and shells yet so I boiled 3 more cups of water in it for 10 minutes but none the less that was a bit frustrating - especially since I should have known it wouldn’t be enough when I first looked at the recipe. Then, the butter and cream cheese didn’t really make the rice creamy at all. Added more cream cheese and still not really creamy at all. Considered adding some heavy cream but decided against it and took the loss. Ended up cooking the lobster a bit longer too in butter and a very small amount of water at the end as well because it wasn’t soft enough - the actual dish has very very soft lobster. Although it turned out great I had to make a ton of modifications and those made the dinner take wayyy too long.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I'm very sorry to hear that you had difficulties, it is a well loved recipe! Your issue with the broth does point out an error on my part (which I will update momentarily) as I use a ratio of 4 cups stock to 1 cup Arborio rice in all of my risottos. Even that general guideline can be off by more or less, too, it will always depend on things based on the rice, temperatures, etc.
Deb Takacs says
Can this be made and frozen? Suggestions on any change to cooking time before freezing and reheating to finish / serve?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Risotto loses it's creamy texture when frozen, so it is best to refrigerate leftovers. However, if you do freeze the risotto, prepare it as usual before freezing.To reheat your risotto, add it to a warm pan and add stock to bring it back to serving quality (or as close as it can be to the original texture and creaminess). Stir when reheating only occasionally, and add more stock or wine as needed. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!
Deb says
Thank You Angela??
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
You're very welcome!!
Cheryl Johnson says
I really loved this. Subbed chives for tarragon. Perfect!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this! We love tarragon and chives, so I'm sure it was delicious!
Rebecca Bryce says
Was looking for something fancy last night, so I made this. It was INCREDIBLE. I ended up running out of stock (and the rice was still crunchy) and having to add about another cup or so of water so it would cook all the way through. This was super decadent and delicious. Definitely a little too expensive for an every day meal, but for a special occasion it was a winner! The lemon gave it a nice subtle touch. A little time-consuming, but overall a great recipe and not incredibly difficult.
Anonymous says
Just made this for Valentines dinner, it was delish. Pressed for time or maybe I was a little lazy but I used veggie stock instead of making my own and still turned out very good. Thanks
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Absolutely fantastic dish, so glad to hear that you enjoyed it (and that it was a Valentine's meal)!
jay aich says
This is a great recipe. Thanks! I used the marscapone and Parmesan, but I forgot to add the butter (I don't think this rich dish missed it at all). I finished it on the plate with a lemon garlic dill salt I made. Heavenly!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
We absolutely love this recipe, so glad you enjoyed it!
Erin McCrum says
Hey, I added "Better then Boullion lobster base" when I added the vegetables. Instead of the whole lobster, I used tails. It came out wonderful. Thanks for the recipe!
Angela @ Delectable Cooking and Baking says
Thank you for sharing your modifications Erin! We love this Lobster Risotto, glad you like it too!