Smoked Lobster Tails With Lemon-Garlic Butter
Make your next special occasion even more memorable and put these smoked lobster tails with a decadent lemon-garlic butter on the dinner menu. You’ll love how sweet, buttery lobster gets an extra touch of flavor with the perfect kiss of smoky notes. Plus, this gourmet dinner only requires 20 minutes of hands-on preparation time — it’s elegance meets convenience.
Servings 4 people
Calories 258kcal
Equipment
- Kitchen shears
- Smoker any type
- Wood chips or pellets preferably apple, cherry or pecan
- Water pan
Ingredients
Lemon Garlic Butter
- ½ cup salted butter
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Smoked Lobster Tails
- 4 lobster tails fully thawed, about 4-6 ounces each
- Salt and pepper
- Freshly chopped parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
Lemon Garlic Butter
- In a small skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice. Reserve.
Smoked Lobster Tails
- Take a pair of kitchen shears and snip down the middle of the shell to the base of the tail fin on a cutting board. Flip the tail over and press gently push on the belly to loosen the meat. Flip the lobster again with the slit side facing up and gently pull apart the lobster shell halves and use your fingers to loosen the meat from the inside of the shell while still keeping it attached at the base. Once the meat comes loose, set it on the back of the shell.
- Brush with the lemon-garlic butter sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place directly on the grill grates of a 225-degree F smoker with a water pan. Close the lid and smoke until the meat's internal temperature reaches 130-140 degrees F, about 45-60 minutes.
- Remove from smoker. Brush with the lemon-garlic butter again and sprinkle with parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Preparing the lobster tails is known as butterflying. If you don't want to bother lifting the meat out, you can simply cut through the top of the tails and pull apart the shells, leaving the meat in tact and exposed for smoking. Butterflying is all about presentation.
- While cutting to the tip of the tail, make sure you only snip the shell and not the lobster tail meat.
- After butterflying the lobster, rinse off the meat and make sure you pull off the digestive track if it's present.
- Allow the lobster to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to cooking. This takes the chill off the meat and helps it cook more evenly.
- To thaw, place frozen lobster tails in the refrigerator overnight. If you need to thaw even faster, place the lobster tails in cold water with a small stream constantly running. That should thaw the lobster in about an hour. Do not use hot water to speed up the process — that can encourage bacteria growth.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tail | Calories: 258kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 451mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 712IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 0.2mg