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    Home » Recipes » Side Dish

    Butterflied Steamed Lobster Tails With Herb Butter

    By Lily・Published: Dec 13, 2022・Updated: Mar 17, 2025・Post may have affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    These butterflied steamed lobster tails are the perfect side dish, appetizer, or main course. This recipe steams lobster tails using a steamer tray, producing the most tender lobster meat ever! Here's a quick and easy way to boil lobster tails, if you are looking for an alternative.

    Serve these tender steamed lobster tails with lemon wedges and garlic butter. Or, check out these side dishes for lobster.

    Steamed Lobster

    This steamed lobster tail recipe is a great way to make tender, succulent lobster tail meat perfect for a lobster tail dinner or side dish. I've been trying to change things up lately because I'm all chickened out. Lobster is expensive, but it's a lean protein that tastes delicious.

    In terms of texture, I prefer the steaming method for lobster tails, just as I do for shrimp (like this perfectly steamed shrimp). The steaming method is a gentler cooking method than boiling, resulting in tender meat that's not overcooked.

    Ingredient Notes

    frozen lobster tails in a bowl.

    The main ingredient is lobster tails, which can be any size from 3 ounces to 28 ounces. Use fresh lobster tails or frozen lobster tails, but make sure the lobster is completely thawed before the cooking process. Use cold water lobsters or warm water lobsters.

    ingredients to make homemade lemon garlic butter.

    Fresh garlic cloves: I recommend fresh garlic, not dried garlic granules or garlic powder. I also recommend fresh garlic cloves over a jar of minced garlic.

    Quick Overview

    quick overview for how to make steamed lobster tails with lemon garlic butter

    Step 1: Thaw the lobster tails if frozen.

    Steps 2, 3, & 4: Make the garlic butter sauce by frying minced garlic in butter. Stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley.

    Steps 5, 6, & 7: Butterfly the lobster and steam.

    Step 8: Pour the garlic butter on top of the steamed lobster tails.

    How To Make Steamed Lobster with Garlic Butter

    mincing the fresh garlic cloves using a knife and cutting board.

    Thaw the lobster tails for about 20 minutes to 30 minutes. The time depends on the size of the tail.

    chopping the fresh Italian parsley finely

    Roughly chop some parsley leaves.

    how to mince fresh garlic cloves using a knife and cutting board.

    Mince the garlic. Slice the lemon.

    add the minced garlic to the melted butter.

    In a small saucepan on medium-high heat, add the butter. Once melted, stir in the minced garlic.

    adding the fresh chopped parsley into the butter

    Fry the garlic until it starts to change colors (about a minute). Stir in the freshly chopped parsley.

    homemade garlic butter in a small pot.

    Continue cooking for about another 30 seconds or so until the parsley changes colors slightly. Set the garlic butter aside.

    butterflying the lobster tail with a knife

    Flip the thawed lobster tail with the back on the cutting board surface. Butterfly the tail using a knife. It might take a little effort to cut through the shell.

    adding butterflied lobster tails onto a steamer tray

    Fill the steamer pot with water. Place lobster tails in a single layer on a steamer tray with the shell side facing up. Use a lid on the steamer.

    close up view of a small steamed butterflied lobster tail

    Put the steamer on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Steam the lobster tails until cooked through (see chart in the recipe card and below). Start the steam time once you see steam in the pot.

    butterflied lobster tails on a plate with lemon wedges

    Serve the butterflied steamed lobster tails with garlic butter sauce and fresh lemon wedges.

    Time to Steam Lobster Tails

    Check out the chart below to find the recommended time to steam the lobster tails. I recommend steaming up to 2 lbs (about 1 kg) of lobster at a time. Don't overcrowd the steamer tray. Make sure the lobster is in a single layer. You can steam multiple tails at a time.

    Tail SizeSteam Time
    3 oz to 6 oz.3-5 mins
    7 oz. to 10 oz.6-9 mins
    11 oz. to 15 oz.9-11 mins
    16 oz. to 19 oz.10-12 mins
    20 oz. to 28 oz.10-13 mins

    Tips and Tricks

    • Make sure the tails are thawed before steaming. Do not steam frozen tails because they will not cook evenly. You might end up with uncooked meat in the middle as well.
    • If serving these tails as a side, I recommend about ½ lb per person (about two whole 4-ounce tails).
    • For lobster tails as the main course, I recommend about 1-½ lb per person, which yields about ½ lb of lobster meat.
    • The best indicator of doneness is the change in color. The lobster tail will change to a bright reddish orange color.
    steamed lobster tails with garlic butter

    Variations and Substitutions

    • Sometimes you can fit a steamer basket in a large pot, rather than buy an entire steamer pot. I've used both, and they both work just fine.
    • Add shrimp to the steaming basket and make it a seafood feast!
    steamed lobster and shrimp together

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    📋 Recipe

    butterflied lobster tails with lemon and garlic butter

    Butterflied Steamed Lobster Tails with Herb Butter

    Author: Lily
    Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
    Cuisine: Mediterranean
    Prep: 10 minutes mins
    Cook: 5 minutes mins
    Total: 15 minutes mins
    5 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 4
    These tender steamed lobster tails are butterflied, then steamed in a steamer pot, and served with homemade garlic butter. This recipe is written as a side dish, but can be used as a main course- just triple the serving size!

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    Lobster

    • 2 lbs lobster tails see note 1

    Garlic Butter

    • 4 tablespoon butter unsalted
    • 4 garlic cloves
    • ½ lemon large and juicy
    • 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley optional (note 3)
    • pinch of salt

    Instructions

    • Thaw the lobster tails if frozen.

    How to Make the Garlic Butter Sauce

    • Mince the garlic. Chop the parsley. On medium-high heat, add the butter to a small saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add the minced garlic. Fry the garlic for about a minute, or until it starts to change colors.
    • Squeeze the lemon. Add the freshly chopped parsley continuing to stir for about 30 seconds. Remove the garlic butter sauce from the heat.

    Steam Lobster Tails

    • Cut the lobster tails in half longways where there is a meat side and a shell side. Add the butterflied lobster to the steamer tray, with the meat side facing down.
    • Steam the lobster until the meat turns red and is cooked through. Steam time depends on the size of the lobster. See note 2.
    • Pour the garlic butter sauce on top. Serve with some lemon wedges.

    Equipment

    steamer.
    Steamer Pot

    Video

    Notes

    1. If serving as a side dish, each person needs about a ½ lb. If serving this as a main course, each person needs about 1-½ lbs of lobster tails.
    2. Lobster steam time depends on the size of the lobster tails. See the chart below. You can steam up to 2 lbs of tails at a time.
    Tail Size Steam Time
    3 oz to 6 oz. 3-5 mins
    7 oz. to 10 oz. 6-9 mins
    11 oz. to 15 oz. 9-11 mins
    16 oz. to 19 oz. 10-12 mins
    20 oz. to 28 oz. 10-13 mins
    3. Fresh parsley (optional): This fresh herb is entirely optional. I like to use Italian flat-leaf parsley, but curly parsley is great too.
    4. Storage: Cooked lobster tails last about 2 days in the fridge. Raw uncooked lobster tails last about a day. Seafood is always best to eat right away, especially if purchased from the grocery store because you don't know how long it's been sitting out. If you need some flexibility for cooking the lobster tails, I recommend purchasing frozen tails and thawing them when needed. It's convenient, and the tails taste the same!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 280 kcal | Carbohydrates: 1 g | Protein: 38 g | Fat: 13 g | Saturated Fat: 8 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g | Trans Fat: 0.5 g | Cholesterol: 318 mg | Sodium: 1050 mg | Potassium: 469 mg | Fiber: 0.1 g | Sugar: 0.1 g | Vitamin A: 359 IU | Vitamin C: 1 mg | Calcium: 199 mg | Iron: 1 mg

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    About Lily

    Howdy! My name is Lilian, but my friends call me Lily. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 5 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Karin

      March 13, 2025 at 11:34 am

      When you say butterfly, you mean cut all the way through?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Lily

        March 13, 2025 at 9:58 pm

        Hi Karin, great question! Yes, cut the lobster all the way through so you have a flesh side and a shell side.

        Reply
    2. L. Walton

      December 27, 2022 at 5:14 pm

      5 stars
      Steamed shrimp and 6 ounce previously frozen lobster tails. Would recommend the seafood COMPLETELY thaw out before steaming. It took longer to thaw than I thought it would. Steaming wasn’t hard to do, I use a steamer tray like what you got in the photos and it worked like a charm. The garlic butter sauce was tasty and rich. We kept it on the side to dip in. Would make it again.

      Reply
      • Lily

        January 02, 2023 at 5:20 pm

        Thanks for the recipe review and feedback on how you made it. That helps so much!

        Reply

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