I tend to binge watch Gordon Ramsay shows including Hell’s Kitchen. My husband and I have always loved the look (and tantalizing taste!) of the Lobster Risotto recipe that is frequently featured in episodes!
If you’re new to making risotto, be sure to check out the guide to making perfect risotto every time included with my Parmesan Risotto recipe!
Our Lobster Risotto, a very close version to the one seen on the hit reality TV show, Hell’s Kitchen!
Hell’s Kitchen Lobster Risotto Recipe
So, what else would a couple of foodies do but try to find and match the particulars of the HK hit dish!! After many attempts, my husband and I have our delightfully tasty lobster risotto perfected!
As with all recipes, I tweak things here and there to our cooking style and liking ( and working around what kids will eat ).
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 love this risotto recipe, you should also try my Gordon Ramsay’s Mushroom Risotto and Gordon Ramsay Fresh Pea & Mint Risotto Copycat!
One of the most important aspects, in my thinking, to a fabulous Lobster Risotto is using the lobster shells for the stock. Taking the extra time to make your own stock for this risotto dish is so rewarding!
Make A Quick Lobster Stock
- Begin with bringing 6 cups (for this recipe, 4 cups stock to 1 cup Arborio rice in general) of water to a rolling boil, then add the fresh or thawed lobster (thank you Clam Man for our recent batch of fresh, live 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.
How To Make Lobster 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 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 reached 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 vigorously to incorporate them throughout the risotto, until you have a nice creamy lobster risotto.
Serve immediately, garnished with optional Parmigiano and chives ( or parsley ). Enjoy!
Gordon Ramsay Copycat Recipes
- Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen Lobster Risotto Recipe (this page)
- Gordon Ramsay Fresh Pea & Mint Risotto
- Gordon Ramsay’s Mushroom Risotto
- Scrambled Eggs Gordon Ramsay Style
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 degrees F ( 63 degrees C ) as read by a digital meat thermometer. The meat will turn a white opaque color when done.
Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen Lobster Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
Quick Lobster Stock
- 6 cups water (or use 5 cups water/1 cup white wine)
- 1 1/2 lbs (24 oz) 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 Tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1 Tbsp shallots (or white onion - minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/4 cup white wine (dry white wine - we used more, closer to 1/3 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 Tbsp butter (more, as needed)
- 2 Tbsp mascarpone cheese (I used 4 tablespoons of cream cheese)
- zest of 1 whole lemon
- salt & pepper (to taste)
- 2 Tbsp chives (fresh, chopped)
- parmigiano cheese (shaved)
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).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma’s kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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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.
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.
Can this be made and frozen? Suggestions on any change to cooking time before freezing and reheating to finish / serve?
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!
Thank You Angela??
You’re very welcome!!
I really loved this. Subbed chives for tarragon. Perfect!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this! We love tarragon and chives, so I’m sure it was delicious!
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.
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
Absolutely fantastic dish, so glad to hear that you enjoyed it (and that it was a Valentine’s meal)!
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!
We absolutely love this recipe, so glad you enjoyed it!
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!
Thank you for sharing your modifications Erin! We love this Lobster Risotto, glad you like it too!