Lobster Stuffed with Crab Imperial – Outrageously Delicious!
In the restaurants, I’ve worked in and many that I’ve dined in, Lobster seems to always be King of the Menu, and when you stuff that lobster with lump crab meat you’ve just added to its crowning glory!
Thanks to places like Costco and Sam’s Club, Lisa and I enjoy lobster on a regular basis. And no matter how you cook it, grilled, broiled or sauteed, it makes for a better and more affordable dinner in your own home, then you’d get going out. You’ll even have money left over for a bottle of wine!
So as I was thinking of what to prepare for our special Christmas Eve dinner at home (because I waited too long to make reservations….sigh) I immediately thought of a Lobster Tail stuffed with Crab Imperial. After all, I had all the ingredients already in-house.
What struck me as funny as I served up my “surprise dinner” Lisa commented that I had never made this for her before. I guess I couldn’t have picked a better time, Christmas Eve as the snow started falling we sat down to an amazing dinner in the warmth and comfort of our home, at a fraction of the price it would have cost us going out to dinner.
If you’re looking for a meal to celebrate a special occasion, for entertaining or just because you can, I urge you to give this dish a try.
This restaurant-style dish is the perfect date night dinner or just to make any night a special occasion.
We enjoyed our Stuffed Lobster with a bottle of Prosecco, but even if it’s just sparkling water make sure you raise your glass and toast to the good life as you enjoy this delicious creation!
Using a digital insta-read thermometer will help you cook the perfect Crab Imperial Stuffed Lobster and be a great help in your kitchen.
If you love lobster you might want to check out a few of my other Restaurant Style dishes:
- Lobster Mac and Cheese
- Red Snapper with a Lobster Cream Sauce
- Lobster Fra Diavolo Bianco
- New England Lobster Roll
Lobster stuffed with Crab Imperial
Ingredients
- 2 (8-10) ounce lobster tails
- 6 ounces lump crab meat
- ¼ cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp old bay
- 1 tsp finely chopped Italian parsley optional
- 1 tsp finely chopped red pepper or roasted red pepper optional
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 4 ounces unsalted butter
Instructions
Crab Imperial
- Mix mayonnaise, egg, sugar, old bay, peppers and parsley together and blend well, this is your imperial sauce.
- Gently mix with lump crab meat
- Refrigerate for 1 hour before using
Lobster Prep
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt butter
- Split lobster tail down the middle, being careful not to completely split the lobster
- Pull the lobster meat out of the shell, leaving the end flap inside the shell.
- Fan the tail and bend it upwards till you hear a little snap, this will help keep the fanned tail in place.
- Push both sections of the shell together and place the split lobster on top of the shell.
- Spoon some of the butter over top of the lobster, place in a baking pan and into 350 degree oven.
- Allow lobster to bake for 5 minutes so that the area you are stuffing will get partially cooked.
Adding Stuffing to Lobster
- Remove lobster from oven after the partial cooking and dividing the crab imperial mixture into two portions, stuff the top of the lobster tail, making a mound with the crab imperial.
- Return lobster to the oven and continue baking for 15-20 minutes until topping has a nice golden color.
- Remove Stuffed Lobster from the oven and spoon just a little bit more of the butter on the stuffed lobster.
- Serve with your favorite side dish, and after presenting the dish to the table, gently remove the stuffed lobster completely from the shell and return to the plate.
- Serve with melted butter and a squeeze of lemon and enjoy!
Nutrition
Raquel
Such a delicious recipe! Cannot wait to make it again!
Christina Hillsman
Sorry, but I cannot see what the oven temperature should be Did I overlook it somewhere?
Chef Dennis Littley
no problem Christina, it doesn’t really stand out. It’s in the lobster prep section, line 6. 350 degrees.
Amber Myers
I bet my kids will love this. They are a huge fans of seafood. I wish I liked it more.
Sue
This looks so good! Special occasion coming up, this will be on the menu!
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
Oh wow, that really sounds delicious. I must say it’s one of my favourites from those you’ve made recently. A great choice for a date night!
Kay
Always been a bit intimidated cooking lobster. But you made it seem so easy! I will be trying it out real soon and will let you know how I get on!
Emily Flint
I don’t know how you make these fancy dishes look amazing, but this one takes the cake! My man would go crazy for this!
Gloria
Well my mouth is watering!! I LOVE seafood, and this recipe is over the top. Seafood stuffed with seafood?? Doesn’t get any better than this!! What a great meal for New Year’s Eve.
GiGi Eats
I would like to go on a DATE with this dinner!
Laura Lynch
This lobster is divine!
Pam Wattenbarger
Your recipes always make me drool. I’d love to serve this to my family on Christmas. It would be a special treat for a special day!
Ramona
Oh my goodness this looks exquisite. I have to admit I’m not cooking lobster as frequent as I would love to but this is definitely the next lobster dish I’m going to make. Drooling! Recipe pinned!
Jodi Bourg
I read the recipe and it wasn’t clear how the lobster was cooked before the crab imperial was placed on the tail. Would someone please explain how the lobster is ‘readied’ for cooking? Thanks.
Jodi Bourg
I re-read the instructions again. Please forgive me for being a little dense. Got it now!
Chef Dennis Littley
no problem, let me know if you have any other questions. I’m not online all the time, but I check in 3 or 4 times a day.
Sharon Thornton
Your Recipe doesn’t include any bread crumbs, yes or no & how much?
Chef Dennis Littley
for imperial you don’t want or need breadcrumbs. Add 1/2 cup to the mix to make crabcakes. But not as stuffing, or imperial.
Mark
Hi Chef,
Are you cutting the tails up the under belly or
The hard back side. The picture looks like the underside.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m cutting through the hard shell, folding the shell together and sitting the partially split tail on top of the shell
Hailey Bettendorf
Tasted amazing! But when I went to cook it the sides of the lobster seemed droopy and some of the filling fell out… do you think I didn’t cook it’s from too much stuffing?
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Hailey
did you prebake the lobster to get it started cooking? If it was just the filling that was too loose it may have needed a little more bread crumbs to tighten it up. You should be able to form it into a mound that will hold it shape. And the last possibility could have been the lobster tails. Every now and then I get one that’s just a little bit off with darker flesh.
Michael
Hi Chef! I noticed in this reply you mentioned using breadcrumbs but I don’t see breadcrumbs in this Imperial stuffing recipe. Should I be adding breadcrumbs in? Also, do you think the addition of Bay Scallops to the stuffing would work well? This recipe looks delicious and I’m planning to make it for Christmas dinner this week 🙂
Chef Dennis Littley
you would only need to add breadcrumbs if you were making crabcakes. If you’re making crab imperial or stuffing, don’t add breadcrumbs.
As for bay scallops, they would make a nice addition to the stuffing. I wouldn’t fully cook them, but maybe a quick sear to get some of the liquid out of the scallops.
Michael
Thank you!
Alex Butter
Best ever stuffed lobster! I baked the lobster tails on a rack above a shallow baking pan filled with a cup of water. To save time, I put half a jumbo lump crab cake over each tail, instead of making crab imperial. The lobster tails were absolutely delicious. Thanks for the fabulous recipe.
Denisr
This recipe was awesome! I am making it again using 8 6oz libster tails. Do I just triple the ingredients?
Chef Dennis Littley
that sounds right to me, just divide up the stuffing equally. Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe
Amy H
I bet my husband would love this for dinner! I could make this for him New Years Eve
Stephanie
Oh! This looks so delicious! I never thought to look at Sams Club to see if they had Lobster!