Butter Poached Lobster Risotto
Succulent chunks of lobster tail are gently poached in garlic herb butter, then folded into Parmesan risotto. Lobster Risotto is sophisticated and impressive, but it comes together in about 30 minutes! Serve with a large salad on the side and maybe some crusty bread (and don’t forget the wine!), and you’ll wonder why you ever spent so much money on risotto at restaurants!
Table of Contents
Risotto Is an Easy Yet Impressive Date Night Dinner
We aren’t huge on Valentine’s Day in our household. We don’t do flowers, chocolates, or elaborate things, just a nice, elegant meal cooked at home. This is one of those meals that feels restaurant-quality, but it’s so easy to make and much more affordable than buying it at a restaurant.
Lobster risotto is the perfect Valentine’s Day or date night meal. If you’re nervous about making risotto, don’t be! I walk you through the entire process step-by-step in the recipe card below, plus I’ve packed the blog post with all my top tips. Serve with a large salad on the side and maybe some crusty bread (don’t forget the wine!), and you’ll wonder why you ever spent Valentine’s Day at a restaurant in the first place.
Tools You’ll Need
A Few Ingredient Notes
You can find the full list of ingredients, quantities, and method in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Lobster. I personally like tail meat because it’s easy to find, very tender, and it’s so easy to work with. Whole lobster isn’t my favorite because it’s so much more work to cook and break down, especially since this recipe is intended for two. (If you love lobster as much as I do, try grilling lobster tails next!)
- Butter. It looks like there’s a ton of butter in this recipe because, well, there is! But you won’t actually be eating all of it. We’re using two whole sticks of butter to very gently poach the lobster, so most of the butter stays in the pan. (Heads up: if you try to poach the lobster in water or broth, it will likely seize up on you and go rubbery.)
- Risotto rice. Risotto is best made with arborio (short grain) or carnaroli (medium grain) rice. Both are regional to northern Italy and work great!
- White wine. A dry white wine works best here, like a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or Pinot Grigio.
- Saffron. This is an optional ingredient, but it gives the lobster risotto the most gorgeous yellow hue and deepens its flavor.
- Parmesan. Please, please, please buy a block of Parm and grate it yourself using a box grater. Hand grated Parmesan melts seamlessly into the risotto and won’t form clumps.
- Shallot. Yellow onion would work too, but I prefer using shallots in my risotto because they’re milder in flavor.
- Lobster stock. You can go the store-bought route ONLY if you pinky promise to buy really good quality lobster or seafood stock. Otherwise, you can make your own in about an hour using the reserved lobster shells and some aromatics and simmering them in 3 quarts of water. (Recipe below!)
Want to Use Frozen Lobster Tails? That’s Fine!
Fresh lobster is always best in my opinion, but if you do elect to use frozen lobster tails make sure to defrost them in the fridge a day or two in advance. You’ll want to pat the meat very dry before poaching it in the butter.
How to Make Restaurant-Quality Risotto with Lobster (+ Tips)
- First, make the lobster stock. You’ll start by removing the lobster meat from the tail shell. This can be accomplished by cutting the tail in half lengthwise with sharp kitchen shears or a sharp knife. The meat is then eased away from the shell, and the shell goes into a large pot with some fresh aromatics (I like carrot, fennel, and onion) and simmered in lots of water until reduced to about 5 cups total.
- Toast the rice. Working in a high-sided braiser, sauté the shallot until softened, then add in the arborio rice and gently toast for about a minute to coat it in the melted butter.
- Add the warm lobster stock to the rice 1 cup at a time until creamy. As the rice cooks, it’s stirred the entire time, which releases the starches from the rice yielding a super creamy consistency. It may sound labor-intensive but I promise it’s not! The stirring is just a great time to simultaneously consume some wine.
- Stir in the butter and Parmesan. Do this off the heat to prevent the cheese from clumping up.
- Poach the lobster tail meat in butter. We’re using melted butter infused with aromatics (garlic, bay leaf, and tarragon) that we’ll gently cook the lobster in. Cooking it this way will ensure that we don’t overcook it and it will be melt-in-your-mouth tender.
- Fold the lobster into the risotto. I like to use a slotted spoon to transfer the poached lobster into the risotto, otherwise too much butter winds up in the finished dish.
What to Serve on the Side
Pair your lobster saffron risotto with a leafy side salad, garlic bread, and a nice glass of white wine to complete the meal. Here are some side dishes we love with this:
If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Easy, Yet Impressive Risotto Recipes
- Creamy Tomato Risotto
- Pumpkin Risotto with Bacon and Gouda
- Cacio e Pepe Risotto
- Truffle Mushroom Risotto
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Butter Poached Lobster Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
For the Poached Lobster
- 2 sticks salted butter (1 cup)
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 sprigs tarragon
- 3 (4 – 5 oz) lobster tails , meat removed from the shell and shells reserved for making the stock
For the Lobster Stock
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
- 2 carrots , peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 3 quarts water (12 cups)
- reserved lobster shells (do not use the lobster meat for making the stock)
For the Risotto
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large shallot , minced
- 1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 pinch of saffron (optional)
- 5-6 cups homemade lobster stock , gently simmering
- 3 tablespoons salted butter , diced
- 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
- salt and pepper , to taste
- 3 tablespoons minced chives
- lemon wedges , for serving
Instructions
- Make the lobster stock. Combine all of the stock ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (uncovered) until reduced by 2/3 so that you have about 6-7 cups of stock in total. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and reserve for cooking the lobster risotto. You'll want to keep the pot of lobster stock warm over low heat in a medium saucepan (never add cold stock to the arborio rice!).
- Prepare the poaching liquid. In a small saucepan, melt the 2 sticks of butter over low heat. Add the garlic, bay leaf, lemon zest, and tarragon sprigs, and keep warm on the lowest heat setting while we make our risotto.
- Sauté the aromatics and arborio rice. In a wide and shallow skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the shallots have softened. Add the rice and cook for another minute, while stirring, until it is coated in the butter. Add the pinch of saffron and the white wine, then simmer until the wine is absorbed into the rice.
- Add the warm stock to the rice 1 cup at a time. Once the wine has been absorbed into the rice, add 1 cup of warm lobster stock while constantly stirring the pot. This is the key to risotto, as the continuous stirring releases starch from the rice and creates creaminess. Once that broth has been absorbed, add another cup. A trick to tell when it's time to add more stock is if the bottom of the pan is exposed when you drag your spoon across the bottom. You will continue to add stock, 1 cup at a time while stirring until it has been absorbed into the rice and the rice is just slightly al dente, about 20-22 minutes. You may not need to use all the stock, just check the rice periodically, by tasting, until it has the desired texture.
- Stir in the butter and Parmesan. Once the rice has reached the desired doneness, turn off the heat. Stir in the butter and parmesan and continue to stir until the cheese and butter are melted and evenly dispersed. Top with chives and set aside.
- Poach the lobster meat. Roughly chop the lobster meat into chunks and increase the heat on the poaching liquid to medium-low. Add the lobster meat to the butter and gently baste the warm butter over the lobster until the flesh has turned opaque; about 3-4 minutes.
- Finish and serve. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the poached lobster to the risotto and gently fold the lobster in. Serve with lemon wedges on the side and more parmesan.
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