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Overhead view of sous vide lobster tails, pasta and lemon wedges on a plate.
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Sous Vide Lobster Tail

This Sous Vide Lobster Tail recipe is a no-fail way to get tender and succulent lobster. You need just 5 ingredients and they're ready in an hour!
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 servings
Calories 255kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 lobster tails 2 if very large tails
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut in 1 tablespoon pieces
  • 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon 1-2 sprigs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • fresh lemon slices

Instructions

  • Heat a sous vide water bath to 130F degrees.
  • Heat a pot of water to boiling and add the lobster tails. Cook for 30 seconds. (Parboiling the tails allows the meat to be removed from the shell more easily).
  • Remove and let cool. Carefully use scissors to cut down the middle of the tail, being careful not to puncture the lobster flesh.
  • Carefully pull the shell outward and remove the flesh from the inside of the shell, trying to get it all in one piece.
  • Place the lobster tails in a vacuum seal bag (or ziplock freezer bag if using the water displacement method) with the butter, salt and tarragon. Seal the bag.
  • Place in the water bath and cook for 45 minutes.
  • Remove the bag from the water bath and take the tails out of the bag.
  • Serve the lobster drizzled with the bag juice (mostly butter and lobster sauce) with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
  • The extra sauce is great served over cooked pasta, rice or potatoes.

Notes

  1. You’ll need to remove the lobster tails from the shells first before cooking them in the water bath. 
  2. I recommend parboiling the lobsters first so the delicate lobster meat can be easily removed from the shells.
  3. Be careful not to leave the lobster tails in the water bath too much past the 45 minute cook time as they may start to get mushy.
  4. When preparing your sealable bag for the water bath, it’s important that you remove the air as this keeps bacteria out of the bag.
  5. The bag of lobster tails should be fully submerged in the water bath so they cook safely and properly. If the bag starts to float, you can open it, let the air out and reseal it.
  6. To prevent the bag from floating, you can also use a sous vide sinker weight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tail | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 563mg | Potassium: 186mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 776IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1mg