Lobster Salad Recipe
This Lobster Salad recipe is a copycat of the Duryea's lobster cobb salad in Montauk and it tastes just as good as theirs, if not better! It's a combination of fresh lobster meat, salty bacon, fresh tomatoes, crispy lettuce, and a light and creamy dressing.
Servings: 4
Calories: 563kcal
Ingredients
Lobster Salad
- 1 lb lobster meat, tail & claw
- 6 strips of bacon, cooked
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- 2-3 heads of gem lettuce, roughly chopped or torn
- pinch of kosher salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 avocados, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1/4 cup sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded off the block
- fresh tarragon and finely chopped chives for garnish
Tarragon Dressing
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp champagne vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon
- 2 tbsp fresh chives
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 1/2 of a large shallot, chopped
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange the bacon on the baking sheet in a single layer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until done to your liking. When finished, transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate to cool before chopping.
- While the bacon is cooking, prepare the dressing. Add the mayonnaise, buttermilk, champagne vinegar, tarragon, chives, garlic, shallot, dijon mustard, and salt to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Mix on high until fully blended, taste and adjust as necessary (I usually end up adding more herbs because I love them!). Then set aside for later.
- Next, fill a medium-sized saucepan with salted water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Use a kitchen shears to cut the top of the shells (and the full length of the underside of the tail) to remove the lobster meat. Gently place the shelled lobster meat into the water, reduce it to a simmer, and cook the lobster tail for about 1 minute per ounce (usually about 6-8 minutes for an average tail).Once the meat is opaque and tender, remove the tail from the water and allow it to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces (leave the claws in tact). Place the lobster meat in a small mixing bowl and toss with 1 tbsp of melted butter, then toss with 2-3 tbsp of the dressing to make a lightly coated lobster salad.
- Use the same pot of water you used to cook the lobster to cook the eggs. Bring the water back up to a rolling boil and carefully drop in the eggs. Cook for 10-11 minutes, then run them under cold water, peel, and finely chop them.
- Toss the lettuce in a few tablespoons of the dressing and a pinch of flaky salt. Transfer it to a large serving bowl and mix in the bacon, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, scallions, cheddar cheese, and half the lobster salad. Top the salad with the remaining lobster salad and some fresh tarragon and chives. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side and garnish with more fresh tarragon and chives.
Notes
- You can often find pre-cooked, shelled lobster meat in the frozen section of your local grocery store. Although fresh tastes best, this makes preparing the salad much easier!
- You can make this dressing a little lighter by substituting the buttermilk and mayonnaise for Greek yogurt. If you do this, add about 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice to the dressing and thin it out with water 1 tbsp at a time until it's reached your desired consistency.
- The dressing should be a pale green color, if it's not it probably needs more herbs!
- For presentation, I like to save about 1/4 of each ingredient to place on top of the salad.
- I like to toast some brioche hotdog buns in a pan with a little bit of butter and then fill them with the salad. It's almost like eating a lobster roll!
Nutrition
Calories: 563kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 248mg | Sodium: 761mg | Potassium: 901mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 985IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 3mg
