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Regular lobster tails boiled or oven-baked are great, but why not up the flavor even more by smoking them on the pellet grill or smoker! These smoked lobster tails are basted with a compound butter for succulent and smoky goodness – a great new way to cook lobster on the grill.
Every now and then, you cook something that is so delicious from the first bite, that all you can say is “wow”. Part disbelief that what you just made was that good, part wondering why you hadn’t tried this new cooking method or recipe or ingredient before.
That’s what happened when my wife and I tried the first bite of these smoked lobster tails.
The lobster meat was perfectly cooked and well-balanced with garlic and herb-infused butter, and the kiss of smoke was just the right woodsy, rustic flavor to compliment the sweetness of the lobster meat.
Whether you’re celebrating a holiday or you simply want to try a new protein on the grill, this lobster dish promises a gourmet restaurant-quality experience at home (for much less than it costs to order lobster at your local seafood restaurant!).
*And it pairs perfectly with our smoked prime rib for a fancy surf and turf dinner!
What You Need for the Best Smoked Lobster Tail
These are the ingredients that we used for our lobster tails, as well as some notes and variations. Exact ingredients and measurements listed in the recipe card down below.
- lobster tails – We found some beautiful lobster tails at Costco that weighed about 8 ounces each for a great price! For smaller lobster tails, be sure to adjust the cooking times as needed.
- butter – Our grilled lobster tails are basted in a garlic herb compound butter. For 4 large lobster tails, you’ll need about one full stick of butter. This allows for extra for dipping.
- garlic – We used fresh minced garlic.
- Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and hot sauce – These add a nice kick of flavor to the compound butter. You can omit the hot sauce if you wish.
- lemon juice – Lemon flavors pair perfectly with seafood, so I added some fresh-squeezed lemon juice to my compound butter to baste the lobster tails.
- paprika and ancho chili powder – Since I was going for more of a “cowboy” butter, I added these spices. You can omit them if you wish, or substitute parsley, chives, or oregano for more of a mild, herby flavor.
Smoked Lobster Tails Video
More of a visual learner? You can watch me make this recipe here:
How to Prep the Lobster Tails for the Smoker
The trick to cooking lobster tails on the grill is to pull them out of the shell so that they cook quickly and evenly. You can piggyback the lobster meat, leaving the tail end attached and laying the meat over the shell for a nice presentation.
Just follow these steps to prep the tails for the smoker or grill:
- Use kitchen shears to cut down the top middle of each lobster tail shell, taking care not to cut too deep into the meat.
- Place your thumbs on the cut area, and carefully pull apart to expose the tail meat. *Be careful, the joints of the shell can be sharp!
- Starting at the end of the tail that would be closest to the lobster’s middle, carefully slide your thumb in between the lobster meat and the shell. Gently pull the meat out of the shell, leaving the tail end attached.
- Rest the lobster tail meat on top of the shell, fanning it out a bit so that it cooks evenly on the grill.
Making the Smoked Compound Butter
We’ve had great success in the past with making compound butters for everything from ribeye steaks to cowboy butter shrimp, so we decided to add an herb-infused butter to this grilled lobster recipe also.
By melting the butter on the pellet grill, you get an awesome added smoke flavor that compliments the smoked lobster. Follow these steps to make the easy compound butter:
- Preheat Your Smoker: Set your smoker to reach a steady temperature of approximately 250°F. This consistent heat ensures the butter simmers gently to pick up those smoky notes.
- Smoke the Butter to Melt: Add a stick of butter to a small sauce pan and put it on the grill. Allow it to smoke for about 30 minutes.
- Skim the Melted Butter: Once 30 minutes has passed, carefully skim off any milk solids from the surface to obtain a clarified base.
- Infuse the Flavors: Add garlic, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, paprika, lemon juice, and the other compound butter ingredients.
- Return to Smoker: Place this mixture back into the smoker for an additional 30 minutes to enhance and blend the flavors.
How to Smoke Lobster Tails on the Grill or Smoker
Once the lobsters are piggybacked (or the tail meat is laid across the shell), then it’s time to put them on the grill. The complete instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1: Place the lobster tails on the grill. Brush about a spoonful of the melted compound butter on to each of the lobster tails. Then close the grill lid and smoke at 250℉ for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the lobster tails reaches about 120-125℉.
Step 2: Baste the lobster tails with another spoonful each of the melted butter. Then continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 140-145℉. For us the total smoking time was 1 hour, but cooking times will vary based on the size of your tails and what grill you are using.
Step 3: Once the lobster tails hit the desired internal temperature, remove them from the smoker, squeeze on some fresh lemon juice, and serve immediately.
*Chef’s Tip: BEFORE you start basting the lobster with the melted compound butter, separate about half of the butter into a small bowl or ramekin to save for later. This flavorful butter is perfect for dipping your cooked lobster meat, but you’ll need to remove some from the saucepan so as not to cross-contaminate while you’re using the basting brush to baste the lobster as it’s cooking on the grill.
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Smoked Lobster Tails
Equipment
- kitchen shears
Ingredients
- 4 lobster tails, *See notes
For the Compound Butter:
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon ancho chile powder, *Or substitute regular chili powder
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Prepare the grill – Heat pellet grill or smoker to 250℉ with your choice of wood or pellets.
- Make the compound butter – Add one stick of butter to a small saucepan. Place on the grill to smoke for 30 minutes (during this first 30 minutes, prep the lobster tails). After 30 minutes, carefully remove the saucepan from the grill and use a spoon to skim the milk solids off the top of the melted butter. Add minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, paprika, chili powder, and salt to the saucepan with the butter. Mix well and return the saucepan to the grill. Smoke an additional 30 minutes at 250℉. Then, pour about half of the melted compound butter into a small bowl or ramekin for serving. *You can leave the remaining half of the butter in the saucepan to use for basting the lobster as it cooks.
- Prepare the lobster tails – While the butter is smoking, prepare the lobster tails by "piggybacking" the meat. *See notes.
- Smoke the lobster tails – Place the prepared lobster tails on the grill. Use a basting brush to brush about a spoonful of the melted compound butter on to each of the lobster tails. Then close the grill lid and smoke at 250℉ until the internal temperature of the lobster tails reaches about 120-125℉. *It took our lobster tails about 30 minutes to reach this internal temp, but cooking times will vary based on the grill used and the size of your lobster tails.
- Baste the lobster tails and continue to smoke – Once the internal temp reaches about 120-125℉, baste the lobster tails with another spoonful each of the melted butter. Continue to cook until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the tails reaches 140-145℉ as read by an instant-read meat thermometer (about another 25-30 minutes). Then remove from the grill. *Total smoking time for the lobster tails was 1 hour at 250℉ for us. Cooking times will vary, so always cook to internal temperature.
- Serve smoked lobster tails – Serve the smoked lobster tails immediately with lemon wedges and the reserved compound butter from step 2.
Video
Notes
- For the Lobster Tails – We used 4 large lobster tails that we found at Costco for this recipe. The tails weighed about 8 ounces each. For smaller lobster tails, be sure to adjust the cooking times as needed.
- How to Piggyback Lobster Tails – 1) Use kitchen shears to cut down the top of each lobster tail shell, taking care not to cut too deep into the meat. 2) Place your thumbs on the cut area, and carefully pull apart to expose the tail meat. *Be careful, the joints of the shell can be sharp! 3) Starting at the end of the tail that would be closest to the lobster’s middle, carefully slide your thumb in between the lobster meat and the shell. Gently pull the meat out of the shell, leaving the tail end attached. 4) Rest the lobster tail meat on top of the shell, fanning it out a bit so that it cooks evenly on the grill.
- For the Compound Butter – We chose to go with more of a cowboy-style butter for this recipe (hence the Worcestershire, hot sauce, and chili powder). For more of a mild, herby flavor, you can omit the hot sauce and chili powder and substitute more herbs like parsley, chives, or oregano. Feel free to experiment with flavors for your compound butter.
- Cooking Times Will Vary – The cooking times in this recipe are provided as a guide only. As with most meats, you should always cook to the proper internal temperature, rather than to a specific time. Times will vary based on size of lobster tails, what grill you are using, etc. Safe internal temp for lobster is 145°F.
