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This simple and beautifully balanced lobster salad will transport you to a breezy Maine summer afternoon. Flexible recipe and serving ideas.
Why we love this recipe
I hardly think that lobster salad needs a marketing team. It’s the ultimate intersection of super-special and casual chic. But that’s my job, so here we go. This recipe has:
- A light, tangy dressing that enhances the lobster without overwhelming it
- Just a little bit of crunch from some very finely diced celery
- A beautiful balance of flavors
- Lots of great ways to add or substitute with what you’ve got
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- You’ll start with cooked lobster meat. This salad is great when made with claw and knuckle meat, leaving the tails for other preparations — but you can use any parts you’ve got. You can buy it cooked or do it yourself.
- You can use a good-quality supermarket mayo, an easy homemade version, or an extra-savory option: Kewpie mayo. This Japanese brand is creamier, tangier, and more umami-fied than its American counterpart.
- A generous amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed right into the sauce makes all the difference in the world.
- A tiny bit of fresh tarragon makes the perfect enhancement. If you’re not a fan of the flavor, you can use snipped chives instead — or use both.
- I’ve pictured some potato here for a couple of reasons. First, if you’re making this salad from the leftovers of a lobster boil, you may have some available. But it’s also a fabulous way to halve the cost of this meal by substituting for a portion of the lobster meat. Both versions read like lobster salad, and both are delicious.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make this fabulous lobster salad recipe. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll tear or cut the lobster meat into small bite-sized pieces and place all the ingredients for the dressing into a mixing bowl.
- Give it a good stir.
- Add the lobster, celery, and potato if using.
- Stir gently to coat everything evenly with dressing. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
Lobster salad is divine as-is, tucked into a skillet-toasted top-split bun, on a simple sandwich with lettuce and tomato (and, hey, bacon or avocado, if you like), or as pictured, perched atop a simple leafy green salad.
If you like, you can stir in a cup of corn kernels for a bit of starchy sweetness, or a couple of tablespoons of drained capers for flecks of satisfying savoriness. Add a tablespoon of snipped chives, a couple of sliced scallions, a minced small shallot, or two tablespoons of minced red onion for a bit of vibrance. Or crumble a few strips of cooked bacon and stir those in. (I say “or,” but corn, capers, chives, and bacon would be fine, too.)
If you’re adding a lot of substantial ingredients, consider doubling the mayo, lemon juice, and tarragon
Yes. You can make the salad up to about 24 hours in advance and keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Just give it a good stir and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so to take the chill off before serving.
Leftovers will keep for two to three days, if you can manage to hide them for that long.
More favorite lobster recipes
- How to cook and eat a whole lobster
- Maine lobster roll
- Connecticut lobster roll
- Butter-poached lobster tail
- Sous vide lobster tail
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Lobster Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 grams) cooked lobster meat
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, optional
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 medium ribs celery, diced small
Instructions
- Tear the lobster meat into small bite-sized pieces.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the mayo, lemon juice, tarragon, salt (if using), and pepper until smooth and homogenous.
- Add the lobster and the celery and stir gently to coat with the dressing.
Notes
- You'll start with cooked lobster meat. Lobster salad is great when made with claw and knuckle meat, leaving the tails for other preparations — but you can use any parts you've got. You can buy it cooked or do it yourself.
- You can use a good-quality supermarket mayo, an easy homemade version, or an extra-savory option: Kewpie mayo. This Japanese brand is creamier, tangier, and more umami-fied than its American counterpart.
- A tiny bit of fresh tarragon makes the perfect enhancement. If you're not a fan of the flavor, you can use snipped chives instead — or use both.
- Serving suggestions: Lobster salad is divine as-is, tucked into a skillet-toasted top-split bun, on a simple sandwich with lettuce and tomato (and, hey, bacon or avocado, if you like), or as pictured, perched atop a simple leafy green salad.
- You can make the salad up to about 24 hours in advance and keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Just give it a good stir and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so to take the chill off before serving. Leftovers will keep for two to three days, if you can manage to hide them for that long.
Suggested additions and variations
- If you're making lobster salad from the leftovers of a lobster boil and have some cooked potato left over, consider adding it, either as a substitute for a portion of the lobster meat (to quickly reduce the cost of the meal) or in addition to the full quantity of lobster.
- If you like, you can stir in a cup of corn kernels for a bit of starchy sweetness.
- Try a couple of tablespoons of drained capers for flecks of satisfying savoriness.
- Add a tablespoon of snipped chives, a couple of sliced scallions, a minced small shallot, or two tablespoons of minced red onion for a bit of vibrance.
- Crumble a few strips of cooked bacon and stir those in.
- If you're adding a lot of substantial ingredients, double the dressing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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