One of the most delicious foods out there is lobster. There are two problems with lobster, though. 1- they are expensive. 2- they are a bit tricky to cook. If you over cook them, they are ruined and you just wasted a bunch of money! Nooooo!! So, most people skip making lobster at home and wait for a special occasion dinner to order lobster at a fancy restaurant. I have to say that I too found myself in this same situation. I VERY rarely make lobster at home because I don’t want to ruin it. I’m happy to say that with the Instant Pot Lobster with the BEST Compound Ever recipe, you no longer have to wait for a fancy night out to have delicious lobster!
Lobster tails were on sale at the grocery store so I figured I’d give it a try in the Instant Pot. After all, the risk wasn’t that big since they were on sale. (I bought the small 6 ounce lobster tails since they were on sale for $6 each.)
I am so incredibly impressed with how great lobster tails in the Instant Pot turned out. Seriously, they were so good! They were cooked perfectly, tender, flavorful, sweet and delicious! Throughout the cooking process I came up with what could possibly be the BEST compound butter ever!I’m not even kidding when I say it was the best! The combination of the lemon (and zest!), butter, garlic and Old Bay turned out awesome! Now, I just need to think of other things to use the compound butter on. I’m definitely thinking all seafood, steak and veggies! The options are endless!
Tips for making Instant Pot Lobster with the BEST Compound Butter Ever!:
Feel free to use larger lobster tails if you would like. 2 minutes should be plenty of time for a 6 or 8 ounce lobster tail but if you make a much larger lobster tail- 10 ounces or larger, you will need to add 1 minute to the cook time to be a total of 3 minutes under pressure.
Do not let the lobster sit in the pot for very long after they have completed cooking. They will for sure be overcooked if you do.
Be sure not to skip the butterflying step. Butterflying the lobster helps the compound butter to cook into the lobster and the garlic, lemon, butter goodness enhances the lobster!
Butterfly lobster tails- do so by cutting the shell of the lobster down the back with kitchen shears, from the top to the bottom. Do not cut through the end of the tail, stop cutting when you get to the last section of the tail. Separate the meat from the shell by pulling the shell apart- do not fully separate the shell as you want to be able to lay the semi-connected lobster meat on top of the shell for cooking and presentation. Leave the last 20% of the lobster meat connected to the shell. After pulling the lobster meat away from the shell, gently close lobster shell under the meat and lay the meat on top of the shell. It’s okay if small pieces of the shell break off during this process. Nobody will know. :)
Apply compound butterto butterflied lobster tails. Using a tablespoon, scoop out about 1.5 tablespoons of compound butter and place on top of the butterflied lobster tails- push down a bit to make sure that the compound butter is stuck to the lobster tail pretty well.
Place lobster tails with compound butter on them into a steamer basket standing up and leaning against the side of the basket. The tail-side should be facing down and the meat side should be at the top inside of the basket.
Place steamer basket filled with your lobster tails in the Instant Pot.
Pour in 1 cup of liquid- you can use water, vegetable broth, seafood stock or chicken broth.
Close Instant Pot pressure cooker lid and move valve to “seal” position.
Pressure cook lobster tails on high for 2 minutes.
While lobsters are cooking, microwave the remaining compound butter so that you can use it as the dipping sauce for the lobster tails! :) Microwave in increments of 15 seconds until all butter has fully melted. Stir well and pour into small dishes for serving.
When timer sounds, quick release all pressure by moving valve to “release.” This should take about 2 minutes.
Once all pressure has been released, open pressure cooker lid and remove lobsters from the Instant Pot.
Serve and eat immediately.
Ingredients for making Instant Pot Lobster with the BEST Compound Butter Ever!:
4 4-6 ounce lobster tails- thawed
1 cup of liquid
Use water, chicken broth, vegetable broth or seafood broth. Whichever you prefer will work. I found that the chicken broth gives a nice flavor that is not overpowering and prefer it over the other options.
1cupLiquid(Use water, chicken broth, vegetable broth or seafood broth. Whichever you prefer will work. I found that the chicken broth gives a nice flavor that is not overpowering and prefer it over the other options. )
Butterfly lobster tails- do so by cutting the shell of the lobster down the back with kitchen shears, from the top to the bottom. Do not cut through the end of the tail, stop cutting when you get to the last section of the tail. Separate the meat from the shell by pulling the shell apart- do not fully operate the shell as you want to be able to lay the semi-connected lobster meat on top of the shell for cooking and presentation. Leave the last 20% of the lobster meat connected to the shell. After pulling the lobster meat away from the shell, gently close lobster shell under the meat and lay the meat on top of the shell. It’s okay if small pieces of the shell break off during this process. Nobody will know. 🙂
Apply compound butterto butterflied lobster tails. Using a tablespoon, scoop out about 1.5 tablespoons of compound butter and place on top of the butterflied lobster tails- push down a bit to make sure that the compound butter is stuck to the lobster tail pretty well.
Place lobster tails with compound butter on them into a steamer basket standing up and leaning against the side of the basket. The tail-side should be facing down and the meat side should be at the top inside of the basket.
Place steamer basket filled with your lobster tails in the Instant Pot.
Pour in 1 cup of liquid- you can use water, vegetable broth, seafood stock or chicken broth.
Close Instant Pot pressure cooker lid and move valve to “seal” position.
Pressure cook lobster tails on high for 2 minutes.
While lobsters are cooking, microwave the remaining compound butter so that you can use it as the dipping sauce for the lobster tails! 🙂 Microwave in increments of 15 seconds until all butter has fully melted. Stir well and pour into small dishes for serving.
When timer sounds, quick release all pressure by moving valve to "release." This should take about 2 minutes.
Once all pressure has been released, open pressure cooker lid and remove lobsters from the Instant Pot.
Serve and eat immediately.
Tips for this recipe:
Feel free to use larger lobster tails if you would like. 2 minutes should be plenty of time for a 6 or 8 ounce lobster tail but if you make a much larger lobster tail- 10 ounces or larger, you will need to add 1 minute to the cook time to be a total of 3 minutes under pressure.
Do not let the lobster sit in the pot for very long after they have completed cooking. They will for sure be overcooked if you do.
Be sure not to skip the butterflying step. Butterflying the lobster helps the compound better to cook into the lobster and the garlic, lemon, butter goodness enhances the lobster!
