Lobster Mac and Cheese
Lobster mac and cheese is a decadent, comforting dinner featuring lots of tender lobster meat mixed with creamy macaroni and cheese! Slightly sweet lobster meat is a perfect compliment to cheesy macaroni featuring three different types of cheese. It's all baked together with a buttery Panko topping!
Bites of macaroni noodles, decadent cheese sauce (made with three cheeses) and sweet chunks of lobster meat really make for the most incredible bite. Truly, in a perfect world, I’d eat this mac and cheese every single day! There’s something about a comfort food classic like this one that brings everyone pure joy when it’s made just right.
Whether it’s a cold winter evening or a warm summer night, this cheesy, buttery lobster dish will bring you comfort and joy with every bite. Oh, and it’s certainly worth noting that making this rather impressive spin on baked mac and cheese is actually a whole lot easier than you may think. I’ve included plenty of tips and tricks just below to help you perfectly cook a whole lobster and get the best amount of meat out of it. We do NOT waste lobster here!
Lobster Meat Options
- Depending on where you live, there are various ways to get your hands on some lobster meat. You can use a whole lobster, lobster tails, or cooked loose lobster meat.
- Some stores will carry already cooked and refrigerated lobster meat either in their seafood department or frozen.
- Some stores will have live lobsters or fresh lobster tails available at the seafood counter. (You also have an option to order lobster meat but that could get a little pricey.)
- Lobster tails are usually pretty accessible and much cheaper so you can always use them in your lobster mac and cheese. (You will need about 5 lobster tails.)
- If all else fails, you can also use canned lobster meat but note that there is quite a difference in taste and texture between fresh and canned.
Tips to Make Lobster Mac and Cheese
- Cook the lobster: Bring a pot of water to a boil and sprinkle in salt and black peppercorns. Lower the heat to medium, then add the whole lobster and cover with a lid. Cook according to its weight (about 15 minutes for 1.5 lb. lobster). You can read a lot of tips as well as see a video in my how to cool lobster post.
- Lobster tails: If you’d prefer to use the lobster tail meat, you can butterfly the tails and cook them in the oven. Recipe card contains the information on how to cook lobster tail meat.
- Cook the pasta al dente. Since you will be baking the mac and cheese, make sure not to cook the pasta until it’s completely cooked though.
- It’s best to grate cheese yourself off the block ! This is one of the most important part of a smooth cheese sauce. Pre-shredded cheese always has additives like separators and preservatives that will affect the texture of your sauce.
- Start on medium and then lower the heat to medium-low. Never cook cream or cheese sauce on heat higher than medium.
- How to prevent lumps in cheese sauce: whisk in flour and butter until smooth and as soon as it’s combined and looks like paste, start slowly pouring in milk while constantly whisking. Keep whisking and pouring until all incorporated. Slowly stir until the milk mixture heats through and starts to thicken.
- Never let the cheese sauce boil! Cook the cheese sauce over medium-low heat to just let the milk heat through and the cheese melt.
Allergy Friendly Substitutions
- Gluten Free: Simply use gluten-free macaroni, gluten-free all–purpose flour, and gluten-free bread crumbs for topping. (personally, I prefer the Tinkyada brand of gluten-free pasta.) Use 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour instead of regular flour and mix it with melted butter to make the cheese sauce. Choose gluten-free bread crumbs that resemble Panko crumbs. They are light, crispy, and white in color.
- Lactose Free: Instead of regular milk, use lactose free milk. Use your favorite plant-based butter. You can also use non-dairy milk alternatives that are not sweet.
- Tip about cheeses: Cheese that is aged 6 months and longer is naturally lactose free because of the aging process. Keep in mind that soft cheeses like blue cheese, brie, feta, cream cheese, and a few others are not lactose free. However, cheeses like cheddar, Monterrey jack cheese, parmesan and even some mozzarella are lactose free because of how they’re aged. (Check the label: almost all brands will put the lactose content under the nutritional information. Look for keywords like “contains 0g of lactose per serving.” If you can’t find the wording there, you can look at the sugar content instead. If sugar is 0g, there’s a low chance of lactose.)
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Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe
Lobster mac and cheese is a decadent, comforting dinner featuring lots of tender lobster meat mixed with creamy macaroni and cheese! Slightly sweet lobster meat is a perfect compliment to cheesy macaroni featuring three different types of cheese. It's all baked together with a buttery Panko topping!
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Servings: 8
Calories: 728kcal
Ingredients
- 1-1 1/2 lbs cooked lobster meat*
- 1 lb corkscrew pasta
Cheese Sauce:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves pressed
- 1/3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk or 2%
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp salt adjust to taste
- 8 oz Fontina cheese block
- 8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese block
- 6 oz Monterrey Jack cheese block
Topping:
- 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp minced parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- salt to taste
Instructions
Cooking Whole Lobster:
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Make sure you will be able to fit the lobsters to be completely covered with water. Season water with about 2 tbsp of coarse salt and 1 tbsp of whole peppercorns. Lower the heat to medium so the water doesn’t boil over.
- Submerge lobster into the water and close the lid. (Leave a crack for steam to escape.) Let lobster cook according to its weight, until it’s bright red. (You will most likely find the cooking time right on the box but if not, it takes about 10 minutes per pound to cook but don’t exceed 25 minutes for 3-5 lb lobsters.)**
- Take lobster out of the water and let it cool down before taking out the meat.
Take Out Lobster Meat:
- Twist off the tail. (You will see not so pleasant content of its stomach but you can simply rinse the edge of the rail off with cold water.) Twist off both claws at the sides of the body. Separate the claw from the knuckle by twisting it off.
- Using kitchen shears, cut the underside of the tail all the way down. Pull it apart and take out the tail meat. Use lobster crackers to crack the tough shell of the knuckles and claws. Carefully pull it apart and take out the claw and knuckle meat. Carefully go through the meat to make sure there is no pieces of shells leftover. Chop all lobster meat into smaller pieces.
Cooking Lobster Tails:
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter and mix it with some salt, squeeze of lemon juice, and 2 pressed garlic cloves.
- Butterfly the lobster shell: Pick up the lobster tail and cut the hard, outer shell down the middle all the way down to where the shell meets the tail. To pull the shell apart, you will need to use some muscle and crack the softer underside with your hands. But be careful not to actually crack the shell apart in two.
- As you pull the shell apart to expose the lobster meat, use your hands to gently separate the meat off the sides of the shell. Don’t pull out lobster meat completely, just separate it off the sides. If you see a dark vein along the lobster tail meat, which is lobster’s intestines, pull it out.
- Place butterflied lobster tails on the prepared baking sheet cut-side up and brush the meat liberally with butter mixture. Bake them for 10 minutes.
- Let lobster tails cool until it can be handled and take the meat out of the shell. Chop it and set aside.
Make Mac and Cheese:
- Cook corkscrew pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. While pasta is cooking, grate all the cheeses.
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat and add pressed garlic. Let garlic simmer until fragrant and whisk in flour.
- Once it's combined and looks like paste, start slowly pouring in milk while stirring constantly but gently. Keep whisking until all incorporated.
- Stir in garlic power, ground mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Add cheeses a handful at a time while slowly stirring. Keep slowly stirring until cheeses are melted and smooth.
- Once all cheese is melted, stir in pasta until completely combined. Take the pot off heat.
- Fold in chopped lobster meat and make sure it's evenly mixed throughout.
- Preheat oven to 375°F, grease a 9×13 baking dish, and spread mac and cheese in the baking dish.
- Mix Panko crumbs with parsley, salt, and garlic powder in a bowl and pour in melted but. Toss until completely incorporated and spread the topping evenly over the mac and cheese.
- Bake for about 20 minutes.
Notes
- For this dish, you will need about a pound to a pound and a half of lobster meat. (Some stores may have already prepared, refrigerated lobster meat that could cost less and save time.
- Using Lobster Tails – get about 5 depending on their size. (This is another cheaper options!)
- Whole lobster – you will need 4-5 lbs of whole lobster. That means you need to get two medium or three small lobsters.
- Whole Lobster Cook Times: 1 to 1 1/4 lb. lobster= cook for 10-12 minutes. 1 1/2 to 2 lb. lobster=cook for 15-18 minutes. 2 1/2 to 5 lb. lobster= cook for 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 728kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 216mg | Sodium: 1454mg | Potassium: 480mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1163IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 702mg | Iron: 2mg
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Make Ahead, Storing and Reheating
- Storing: Make sure to store leftovers in the refrigerator. You can use the same pan used for baking. Just make sure it’s cooled to room temperature and cover it airtight with a lid or plastic wrap. Properly stored, it should stay fresh for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheating: you can reheat individual portions in the microwave, make sure to add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the bowl with pasta and use a microwave cover if you have one. Reheat the mac and cheese in 30-45 second increments, stirring in between. Make sure to reheat only until heated through.
- Make ahead: prepare the whole dish up to the step of adding the Panko topping and baking but instead of baking it, cover airtight and refrigerate. Pull it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you need to bake it and add the bread crumb topping. Pop it into the preheated oven and bake it as according to the recipe.
- You can also make just the lobster meat ahead of time. Cook it, pull it out of the shell, and store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. Make it up to 2 days ahead but no more.
- Can I freeze it? I don’t recommend freezing this dish. Cheese and cream don’t freeze well and the texture is often ruined by freezing. Lobster is way too expensive to sacrifice!
More Lobster Recipes to Try
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Hi Lyuba can’t afford lobster these days but would love to make this using shrimp how much do you think ? Thanks for the great I have made many and never fail,
I understand lobster has been going up a lot. One way you can get around it is just using lobster tails they can be a lot more affordable also some stores like whole foods will have frozen lobster meat. If you want to use shrimp because it’s most affordable go with a pound to half a pound depending on how much shrimp you’d like and use uncooked shrimp you can make it the same way I make it in shrimp rolls which will infuse them with flavor. Then chop them up after and add it to the mac and cheese.
This recipe looks great. I plan to make it for a large dinner party using ramekins. How long should I bake individual medium sized ramekins?
Hi,
I would cook them at the same temperature for 10-15 minutes. Everything is already cooked you just want to heat everything through and brown your bread crumbs.