Lobster Roll Recipe

My lobster roll recipe makes the king of sandwiches, a Maine lobster roll!

Sweet, succulent lobster meat, mixed in a light mayonnaise-based dressing, makes a sandwich that borders on legendary. If you’re a lobster lover, this is not a sandwich that you’ll want to miss!

 

One of the great joys in life is a lobster roll, but don’t use just any lobster roll recipe. I’ve sampled this decadent sandwich from Massachusetts up through New Brunswick, Canada, and finding a good recipe is key.

Our recipe isn’t difficult to make and requires only a handful of ingredients. It’s a sandwich that can be served at a fancy dinner party or a relaxed date night at home. You can’t go wrong with my easy recipe, I promise, they will be a hit every time!

If you love seafood sandwiches, make sure to check out my Maryland crab rolls because they are amazing!

Ingredients

Gather the ingredients to prepare the recipe. Culinary professionals call this the “Mise en Place,” which means “everything in its Place.”

Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also ensures you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make the recipe.

Made with simple ingredients

• Lobster meat – body, claw, and knuckle meat
• Split-top hot dog buns
• Celery
• Mayonnaise
• Fresh lemon juice
• Old Bay seasoning
• Italian parsley
• Table salt
• Black pepper

Lobster meat: When it comes to lobster rolls, no matter if they’re Maine lobster rolls, New England Lobster rolls, or Connecticut lobster rolls, the one thing they all agree on is that they should be made with body, knuckle, and claw meat. Not only are lobster tails too expensive, they’re actually too tough for this iconic seafood sandwich. If you do have tails, you can use them in my amazing stuffed lobster tail recipe.

Cooks originally made them with the remains of whole live lobsters after removing and cooking the tails. And that was actually a good thing. The body, knuckle, and claw meat are sweet and tender and make the best rolls. Lobster tail meat will toughen up after they’re cooked and don’t have the same sweet flavor as the body meat.

You can find cooked lobster meat frozen in 8-ounce and sometimes one-pound containers at many grocery stores. Look in the seafood department or ask the seafood manager.

Buns: For an authentic recipe, you’ll want to find New England-style hot dog buns. Bakers split these buns down the top, giving the sides an inside-like texture. They brush the sides with melted butter and grill them until golden brown. Then, they fill the buttery, toasted bun with cold lobster salad to create a classic lobster roll.

Those rolls are hard to find outside of New England. You can use regular hot dog buns or the new split-top buns (Pepperidge Farms) that many grocery stores now carry. And although a buttery grilled bun does add flavor you can forgo that part of the recipe and still enjoy the delicious lobster rolls.

How to Make Lobster Rolls

Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make our lobster rolls in your home kitchen.

• Thaw the lobster overnight in the refrigerator. Then, place it in a colander and lightly press down to squeeze the excess water from the lobster meat.
• Place the lobster meat in a large bowl.
• Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and old bay seasoning to a medium bowl.
• Whisk to combine the dressing ingredients.

• Add the chopped celery and chopped Italian parsley to the bowl with the lobster meat.
• Mix the ingredients together to combine.
• Add the dressing to the lobster mixture.
• Mix until well combined. Refrigerate for at least two hours to allow the salad to chill and the flavors to build.

Serve the lobster salad on top of the split hot dog-style buns with a side of lemon wedges. Our easy recipe makes the best sandwiches! Serve them with potato chips, macaroni salad recipe, coleslaw, or your favorite side dish and enjoy!

But whatever you serve them with, I promise these will be the best cold lobster rolls you’ve ever had. It’s one of my favorite seafood recipes.

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