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Home Blog Cooking Method Sous Vide

Sous Vide Lobster Tails

Sam Guarnieri
Sam Guarnieri Posted: 11/22/22 Updated: 01/10/23
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GF Gluten Free K Keto LC Low Carb

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Cooking lobster tails in a sous vide water bath guarantees you’ll get the most delicious, buttery, and perfectly tender lobster. Surprisingly super easy to make, this recipe is ready to eat in only 1 hour, and served with a tasty garlic butter.

Overhead view of 4 bright red sous vide lobster tails lined up on a cutting board from the top left of the photo down to the bottom right corner.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • You can’t go wrong with cooking lobster tails sous vide! Considering the price tag of this amazingly delicious food, you definitely want to avoid overcooking it. No rubbery lobster ever using the sous vide method, it’ll get perfectly cooked every time. Incredibly tender, buttery, and full of flavor, this is the way to go!
  • This method is very easy! Cooking lobster tails can sound a little intimidating, but fear not! All you’ll need to do is seal the lobster with butter in a food-safe bag, submerge it in the controlled water bath, and let it cook for 1 hour. Melt a little butter with fresh minced garlic to serve it with when the lobster tails are ready.

More Amazing Seafood Recipes

The Best Lobster Bisque (Ruth’s Chris Copycat Recipe)

Baked Fish with Lemon-Garlic Butter

Seafood Soup

Creamy Shrimp Risotto with Parmesan

Chef’s Tips

  • Make sure the lobster tails shells are removed before adding them to the zip-top bag. To remove them, use kitchen shears, to cut the underside shell right down the middle, then cut the attached sides, and using your fingers, peel the shell off the lobster meat.
  • The lobster tails must be defrosted completely before you cook them. If you buy them frozen, you can keep them on a plate refrigerated overnight, or until fully thawed.
  • While we’re keeping the seasoning super simple, salt and butter, you can absolutely customize it to your taste. Add a few sprigs of fresh herbs like parsley, tarragon or dill, a couple of fresh crushed garlic cloves, or a few strips of lemon zest.
  • If you’re not ready to eat the lobster tails right after cooking, don’t remove them from the zip-top bag they cooked in, submerge the bag in a water bath to cool, before transferring to a glass air-tight container. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Sous vide cooked lobster meat being dipped into a ramekin of butter sauce.

More Sous Vide Recipe To Try

  • Garlic and Herb Sous Vide Turkey
  • Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
  • Sous Vide Salmon
  • Oven-Finished Sous Vide Brisket
  • Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes

Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!

Overhead view of 4 bright red sous vide lobster tails lined up on a cutting board from the top left of the photo down to the bottom right corner.

Sous Vide Lobster Tails

Prep:15 minutes
Cook:1 hour
Total:1 hour 15 minutes
This sous vide lobster tails is easy and served with a simple garlic butter.
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4 servings

Ingredients

For the Lobster Tails

  • 4 medium lobster tails shells removed
  • salt to taste
  • 4 tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces

For the Lemon-Butter Sauce

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Equipment

  • Large pot or other large, heat-resistant container
  • Sous vide immersion circulator
  • large food-safe vacuum sealing bag or large, sealable food-safe plastic bag
  • vacuum sealer optional, see Notes for alternative
  • Small saucepan

Instructions 

For the Lobster Tails

  • Fill large pot or other large, heat-resistant container with water. Insert sous vide immersion circulator and set to 130° Fahrenheit. Note: pot must be deep enough that water level falls between minimum and maximum indicators on circulator.
  • Place lobster tails on cutting board. Liberally salt both sides of lobster tails, then transfer salted lobster tails to sealable food-safe bag and add 4 tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces. Remove as much air from bag as possible with vacuum sealer or water displacement method (see Notes) and seal bag shut.
    Lobster tails with pats of butter in sealable plastic bag.
  • Once water bath is preheated to 130° Fahrenheit, place sealed bag in pot, making sure lobster tails are fully submerged. Weigh bag down with weights or silverware attached to bottom of bag if needed. Food must be fully submerged to cook properly.
    Overhead view of lobster tails in a plastic bag submerged in a sous vide water bath.
  • Cook lobster tails in water bath 1 hour. Approximately 5 minutes before cook time is up, prepare lemon-butter sauce.

For the Lemon-Butter Sauce

  • Heat small saucepan over medium-low heat. When saucepan is warm, add 4 tablespoons butter. Melt butter completely, then whisk in minced garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic is fragrant and softened. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in lemon juice to taste. Set saucepan aside.
    Overhead view of lemon-butter sauce in a silver saucepan.

To Serve

  • Carefully remove bag from water bath. Remove lobster tails and transfer to serving platter or serving plates. Drizzle lemon-butter sauce over lobster tails or portion sauce into serving containers. Serve lobster tails warm with desired sides.
    Overhead view of cooked sous vide lobster tails and lemon-garlic butter sauce on a white plate.

Notes

  • Make it Dairy Free: Use a plant-based butter.
  • Water Displacement Method: Place lobster tails in large sealable food-safe bag (not a vacuum sealing bag) and seal bag halfway across top. Heat water with sous vide immersion circulator, then slowly lower half-sealed bag into heated water. The temperature difference will force air out of bag – you should see plastic bag cling to lobster. Once food is entirely submerged and all air is out of bag, seal bag completely and continue with recipe.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 252kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 141mg, Sodium: 448mg, Potassium: 141mg, Fiber: 0.04g, Sugar: 0.1g, Vitamin A: 702IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 0.2mg, Net Carbs: 1g

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Sam Guarnieri

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Sam Guarnieri

Meet Sam Guarnieri

Sam is a travel, food, and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area who loves creating new and inventive recipes. Her love of food goes all the way back to her early childhood, cooking alongside her mom and Nonna – the two best cooks she knows! She's a big believer that good-for-you food can still explode with flavor and (most importantly) be easy to make. When she's not in the kitchen, Sam can usually be found planning her next vacation, spending time outdoors, or bingeing the latest Netflix docu-series.

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