Search
Learn how to make lobster rolls with this easy lobster roll recipe! The lobster salad contains cooked lobster meat, lemon juice, melted butter, mayo, and fresh herbs. The lobster mixture is piled high on toasted split top buns and topped with bacon, lettuce, and tomato! We love to serve these with crunchy potato chips and ice cold beer.
As a die-hard lobster fan, I can wholeheartedly say that it’s just not summer without a lobster roll. And I firmly believe everyone should have a solid lobster roll recipe in their back pocket! More specifically, one that’s easy and impressive enough to whip up anytime the craving stikes! After eating about 1,457,897 lobster rolls in my life, I’ve finally come up with a recipe worthy of sharing.
Inspired by the lobstah rolls I grew up eating on Nantucket and Cape Cod, but with a BLT twist! This recipe features split top buns and cold lobster salad, plus bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes. The BLT part is optional but it adds a summery twist everyone loves. These are summertime on a bun!
Whip this recipe out for your next bbq, 4th of July party, or summer soiree! And get ready for the rave reviews to start flowing in. These colorful rolls are a total crowd-pleaser, super impressive, and easy enough to whip up in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients for Cold Lobster Rolls
- Lobster Meat: You’ll need 2 pounds of fresh cold water meat total. If you’re using live lobsters, make sure you don’t forget that most of the weight is the shell.
- Bacon: Cooked until golden brown and crispy! The crispy bacon adds so much delicious flavor. But if you don’t eat bacon, feel free to omit, no substitution required.
- Mayonnaise: I use just enough mayo to hold the salad together. I suggest using a mayo you enjoy the flavor of and don’t add more unless absolutely needed. Do not sub Greek yogurt or sour cream.
- Butter: Browned butter adds the most incredible flavor to the salad! So make sure to take the extra few minutes to brown it in the pan. You’ll also need a few tablespoons of butter to toast the split top buns. Salted or unsalted butter will work here.
- Celery: For the best taste and texture, you’ll use the celery stalk and some of the celery leaves. Don’t sweat it if you don’t have the celery leaves, you can leave them out with no substitute required.
- Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice works best here. Avoid using bottled lemon juice, which won’t add the same pop of fresh flavor. I don’t suggest subbing lime juice or orange juice.
- Fresh Tarragon: This highly aromatic herb adds a bright pop of freshness! If you can’t find it, you can leave it out or sub it with chopped fresh dill. I don’t suggest using dried tarragon as a replacement.
- Salt and Pepper: I like using fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper! Start with a small amount, taste, and add more as needed.
- Lettuce: As you can likely see by now, I’ve made these rolls into a BLT situation. Fresh bibb lettuce adds a delightful crisp, but you can leave it out.
- Tomatoes: Small but juicy tomatoes add sweet flavor and texture. Again, feel free to leave these off if desired. halved and thinly sliced
- Fresh Chives: Even if you leave the bacon, lettuce, and tomato off, I suggest adding the chives. They add a pop of color and fresh flavor that’s divine! Thinly sliced scallions would be a good substitute.
- New England Style Hot Dog Buns: Aka split top buns – the perfect vessel for serving these rolls! You should be able to easily find these in the bread aisle at your local grocery store.
- Potato Chips: Ok, so these are optional… but I can’t imagine eating my roll without a pile of crunchy chips on the side! Cape cod salt and vinegar potato chips to be exact.
How to Make Lobster Rolls Like a Pro
- Use the Right Buns: The best bun is a split top bun aka New England style hot dog buns. They split in the middle, making them easy to toast and perfect for stuffing with lobster meat.
- Roughly Chop the Meat: Don’t over chop here, you want lots of large chunks of meat.
- Pat the Meat Dry: Before you make the salad mixture, make sure you pat the meat dry. Wet meat = wet mixture. Which is not what we’re going for here.
- Make the Lobster Salad: Use high-quality lobster meat to make the lobster mixture. While you don’t need to cook live lobsters, I do think fresh meat works best. See my tips on using frozen lobster later in the post.
- Toast the Buns: Toasting the split tops buns in melted butter makes all the difference! It adds delicious flavor and helps avoid a soggy bun. I don’t suggest skipping this step.
- Serve at Once: These rolls are best served warm, as soon as possible! Even though the salad is chilled, the warm rolls are part of the charm, and will get soggy after too long. So serve them within 30 minutes of making them.
What is a Lobster Roll?
- It’s a hot or cold sandwich that’s made with lobster meat. Usually the lobster mixture on a lobster rolls contains knuckle meat, claw meat, and tail meat.
- The meat is usually made into a salad or tossed in warm butter and then stuffed on a buttered split-top roll.
- Lobster rolls can be served warm, cold, or hot. Most cold versions are made with mayo and lemon juice. While the hot versions almost always include melted butter and fresh herbs.
New England Style vs Connecticut Style
There are two types of lobster rolls: New England Style aka Maine rolls. And Connecticut rolls, aka warm rolls.
- New England Style rolls typically feature chilled lobster salad which is made with mayo and lemon juice.
- Connecticut rolls typically feature hot lobster meat that’s drenched in melted butter.
- Both rolls are typically served on the same kind of bread: a toasted or grilled split-top bun.
What to Serve with Lobster Rolls?
- Potato Salad
- Corn on the Cob
- Potato Chips
- Pasta Salad
- Macaroni Salad
- Cole Slaw
- Pickles
- Cherry Pie or Blueberry Pie
- Watermelon Lemonade
- Fresh fruit such as cherries, strawberries, or watermelon
- Chocolate Chip Cookies or Brownies
Do I need Live Lobsters?
Absolutely not! If you cannot find live lobsters or prefer not to cook them, you can use pre-cooked fresh meat. Or high-quality frozen lobster meat.
I prefer to use live lobsters because it ensures the meat will be super fresh. But my local farmers market also sells fresh meat, which is equally delicious! And allows me to request extra knuckle meat or tail meat depending on my preference.
The one downside of using frozen meat is it typically contains a lot of excess water. So you’ll want to thaw the meat fully, then drain it well on paper towels before using it in the salad. Gently press out as much moisture as possible!
No recipe gets my family to gather around our outdoor table quite like LOBSTER ROLLS! They’re fresh, tasty, and so fun to assemble. They’re a summer tradition in our house, and perfect for lunch or dinner.
The Best Lobster Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
For the Lobster Salad:
- 2 pounds fresh cold water lobster meat picked over for shells
- 12 slices bacon cooked until golden brown and crispy
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter melted until browned
- 2 Tablespoons celery leaves finely chopped, optional
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh tarragon minced
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper start with a 1/4 teaspoon of each and add more to taste
- 12 leaves Bibb lettuce
- 3 small tomatoes sliced
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chives finely chopped
For the Toasted Buns:
- 3 Tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter more if needed
- 6 New England-style split top hot dog buns
Instructions
For the Lobster Salad:
- Roughly chop the lobster meat. Using a few paper towels, pat the meat dry, then transfer to a large mixing bowl, cover, and chill for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, whisk the mayonnaise, melted butter, celery leaves, lemon juice, tarragon, celery, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Set aside.
For the Toasted Buns:
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and sizzling, add the buns and toast until lightly golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Add more butter to the pan, as needed.
- Split the rolls (not breaking them at the seam) and spread about 2 teaspoons of the mayonnaise mixture inside each roll. Save the remaining mayonnaise mixture, you'll use it for the lobster salad. Place the rolls on a large serving platter.
Assembly:
- Remove the lobster meat from the fridge and stir it into the remaining mayonnaise mixture, tossing well to evenly coat the meat in the sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Fill each roll with two leaves of lettuce, then stuff the rolls with lobster salad, dividing it evenly among the rolls. Nestle two slices of bacon and a few slices of tomato on each roll. Sprinkle with chives and serve!
I tried this recipe for our family picnic and they were a big big hit! Not a classic lobster roll but a fun twist I’ll make again. Very refreshing on a hot day in cape cod!