How Much Lobster Per Person: Broiled Lobster Tail (+More Helpful Info)
Learn how much lobster per person (per serving) is needed to buy some confidently without worrying you won't have enough! Regardless of how the lobster is prepared, I will walk you through exactly how much you should grab to serve your guests! From frozen lobster tails or packaged lobster meat to live whole lobsters, here's how much lobster meat you need per person!
1largelemon(juice of half, serve with wedges from remaining half)
½teaspoonsea salt
1pinchground white pepper
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
Place your oven rack in the upper ⅓ of the oven and turn the broiler on to high.
Prepare your lobster tails by using sharp kitchen shears to gently cut through the top half of the lobster shell, down to the base of the tail. Keep the tail attached at the end and be careful of the lobster meat while cutting!
Devein the tail and remove any dirt or grit if needed. Flip the lobster tail over and press on the ribs gently. Then flip back over and use your fingers to separate the lobster meat from the shell, leaving it attached to the tail.
Lift the meat above the shell then pinch the shell together under the meat to hold it in place. Lay the meat over the shell and set the lobster tail on your baking sheet. Repeat for each lobster tail.
Brush melted butter over prepared lobster tails then squeeze lemon juice onto each and season with sea salt and ground white pepper.
Place baking sheet with lobster tails under the broiler and broil for 1 minute per ounce (3 minutes for a 3-ounce tail, 5 minutes for a 5-ounce tail). The lobster meat will turn opaque when done. *Lobster should be 140°F (60°C) when done, do not go over 145°F (63°C) as your lobster meat will be over-cooked.
Remove from oven when done and serve immediately.
Notes
Unsure of the best lobster to use? You’ll typically have options between cold water and warm water lobster. Cold water lobster is preferable because they have a more tender, white meat that has a cleaner flavor. Warm water lobster is softer and can sometimes have an off flavor.
You can ask the fishmonger at your grocery store if the lobster they provide is cold water or warm water – you can also tell a warm water lobster by the black spots that cover their shells!
Lobsters have their digestive tract running through the tail(also called the vein). While it’s not harmful to eat, it doesn’t taste the best, so you might want to remove it! You can also ask your fishmonger to prepare the lobster tails for you if using fresh.
Never used white pepper? White pepper is simply regular peppercorns with the black shells removed! It has a milder flavor and white color that is great for dishes where you want pepper flavor with no black specks!