This lobster mac and cheese recipe is luxuriously creamy and delicious! Fancy dinner to impress guests, serves 4ish people. PERFECT Valentine's Dinner idea!
I love to eat white mac and cheese with a Roasted Broccoli Salad or if you want MORE carbs (Hi, me,) you'll need some Soft Fluffy French Bread or Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits to go with it.
This is the BEST baked lobster mac and cheese recipe. It has a delicious creamy sauce, and takes 30-40 minutes to make. It's easy to make ahead, and it's pretty creamy the next day as leftovers.
Cooking lobster is something that can intimidate people but SHOULD NOT. It is amazingly easy to make lobster, and everyone needs this delicious seafood mac and cheese recipe in their life. I am fully aware that this is a calorie commitment. Let me assure you, most emphatically, that this is worth every single calorie. Cheese. Lobster. Cheese.
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What To Expect
- Taste: A rich, creamy, cheesy base is the backbone of this dish, the noodles and lobster are what make it fancy! Since we use more mild cheeses of the lighter (white) variety, it's meant to look and taste more like white mac and cheese.
- Ease: This is a pretty straightforward recipe as long as the steps are followed in order. A step up from easy but definitely not too difficult.
- Time: It takes between 30-40 minutes to cook the lobster, make the sauce and noodles, and combine everything.
🛒 Key Ingredients
The list of ingredients isn't too complicated. It's a mix of simple spices, thickener for the sauce, dairy, cheeses with excellent melting power, and of course, lobster.
- Dry Pasta - Elbow macaroni is the classic choice, substitutions are listed below.
- Lobster Tails - 2 small tails or one large 8-10 oz tail. You can DEFINITELY use larger tails and have more meat. I prefer to use cold caught lobster as it tastes better to me. Warm water caught lobster seems to taste a little different. It usually says if it's warm or cold caught on the packaging.
- Seasonings - Fresh minced garlic, salt & pepper, chicken bouillon and onion powder are the seasonings of choice here.
- Milk - Whole milk is used instead heavy cream to keep it lighter.
- Sour Cream - Can be light or full fat, helps to add flavor and creaminess to the sauce.
- Cheese - Havarti, Colby Jack, and Parmesan
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- This recipe uses macaroni elbows, but other smaller pasta such as shells, penne, or cavatappi would work well.
- Want it spicy? Add red pepper flakes to the sauce as it's cooking!
- Switch up the cheese combination! A substitution for the Havarti would be a nice gouda or gruyere.
🧑🍳 Instructions
I'll walk you through the process of how to make baked lobster mac and cheese. These instructions combine a few steps, saving time and making it even easier!
- Step 1. Start by bringing two medium pots of salted (adds flavor) water to a boil over medium heat. In the first pot, cook the noodles for 7-8 minutes until tender. Drain and toss with olive oil, cover and set aside.
- Step 2. In the second pot, cook the lobsters by boiling them for 3-4 minutes, until the internal temp is 145 ℉. Then remove from the water, cool, and separate the meat from the tail by slitting the tail down each side of the underbelly and peeling the shell off. Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Step 3. In a large oven-safe frying pan (or a pot if using a casserole dish to bake) melt butter over medium heat, and add minced garlic. Cook about 1 minute until fragrant, then add flour, salt, pepper, chicken bouillon, and onion powder. Stir and cook for another minute.
Note: There are videos on youtube of removing meat from lobster tails if you need help!
- Step 4. Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, whisking simultaneously to prevent clumping. Cook for 2-3 minutes while whisking until the sauce is smooth and thickens slightly. Then add sour cream.
- Step 5. Remove from heat. Add in 1 cup of the colby jack and 1 cup of havarti cheese, then stir until melted.
- Step 6. Add in the cooked noodles and lobster meat and mix together.
- Step 7. If your frying pan is oven safe, proceed to sprinkle the last cup of havarti and 1 cup of colby jack cheeses on top of the noodles and sauce. If using a pot, transfer to an oven-safe casserole dish before sprinkling the cheeses on top.
- Bake at 350 ℉ for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges are bubbly. Serve warm!
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- Don't use pre-shredded cheese! It will ruin the sauce and make it grainy because of the anti-caking agents and additives in it. Using block cheese and grating it fresh is best.
- This recipe is best served fresh but can be made ahead if needed.
- To make ahead, make the recipe as directed, but do not bake in the oven. Let cool and cover, then refrigerate for up to 3 days.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Simply half the recipe! I would, however, still use the same amount of lobster. Just because.
Good cheeses to use for mac and cheese are a softer melting cheese such as gouda, havarti, or muenster that are mild in flavor and that lovely cheese pull. Cheddar alone does not melt well into a creamy sauce, but is added to this recipe for a nice punch of flavor.
YES! You can freeze this recipe. Cook the noodles to al dente (still firm) instead of soft if you plan to freeze, and make the recipe as directed. Let cool, then transfer to a freezer safe, air-tight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Yes! Because the sauce is not completely made of cheese, it reheats well in the microwave or in the oven.
Look for cold water lobster. It's known to be less fishy tasting and a tender texture and taste due to the slower growth that cold water causes. Many packages say whether they are cold water or not, or you can ask at the meat counter to make sure they are cold water caught.
More Easy & Delicious Pasta Recipes
📝 Printable Recipe
Baked Lobster Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- 2 medium saucepans
- 1 Large frying pan or pot, if planning to transfer to casserole dish to bake.
- 1 casserole dish optional
Ingredients
- 8 oz macaroni noodles
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small raw lobster tails (or 1 large 8-10 oz tail)
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter salted
- 1 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 3 cups whole milk
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 cups Havarti cheese (6 oz) NOT pre-shredded
- 2 cups colby jack cheese, grated (6 oz) NOT pre-shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated (1.5 oz) Not pre-shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Bring two medium-sized pots of salted water to a boil. In one, cook noodles for 7 to 8 minutes, until tender. Drain and toss with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Cover and set aside.
- In the other pot, cook lobster tails for 3-4 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 145° F. Drain and let cool before separating meat from both tails, then dice into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- In a large oven-safe frying pan (or a pot if using a casserole dish to bake) melt butter over medium heat, and add minced garlic. Cook about 1 minute until fragrant, then add flour, salt, pepper, chicken bouillon, and onion powder. Stir and cook for another minute.
- Slowly pour milk into the flour mixture, whisking at the same time to prevent clumping until all the milk is added. Add sour cream and stir. Continue whisking and heating the sauce until smooth and slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Add in 1 cup of the colby jack and 1 cup of havarti cheese, then stir until melted.
- Add in the cooked noodles and lobster meat and mix together.
- If your frying pan is oven safe, proceed to sprinkle the last cup of havarti and 1 cup of colby jack cheeses on top of the noodles and sauce. If using a pot, transfer to an oven-safe casserole dish before sprinkling the cheeses on top. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheeses are melted and bubbly around the edge. Serve warm. Garnish with fresh sprigs of thyme optionally.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sara!
Registered Nurse by day, food blogger by weekend. Perfect dip tester & snack quester. I love short walks on the beach and long naps. Sharing my love for food, one bite at a time.
Cheryl says
Doubled this and it was fabulous. Confused by the amount of cheese required however. Ingredient list says 4 cups each havarti and Colby jack. Instructions refer to two cups. I cut back the amount to around two cups each in total. Made this for a brunch party. It was a huge hit.
Sara says
Hi Cheryl, with technology you can easily double the numbers in the recipe card but the numbers in the instructions do not automatically double.
Computers aren't that smart yet! You would need to do the math in the instructions. 1 cup of each would refer to half of each kind of cheese, resulting in 2 cups of each when doubled. I'm glad it worked out with half of the amount of cheese after you doubled the recipe though!
Lora says
Good but a bit bland for my taste. I used imitation lobster, easier and cheaper. I used twice amount listed cuz I love seafood. I was a little confused on cheese directions so I added half into my basic sauce to make a cheese sauce. The remaining I added as directed. Doubled garlic, sprinkled top with smokey paprika. I used ditalini pasta as I love it for any Mac n cheese. I doubled or tripled parmesan and i mixed with French bread bread crumbs. Think next time I may add caraway seeds, switch cheeses to sharp cheddar and/or Swiss, just to increase flavor. Maybe put diced green onion on top. Maybe add everything bagel seasoning. Just trying to think of things to make less bland. Not sure what might compliment ingredients. Suggestions anyone? And even though I said a bit bland it still was delicious.
Kyson R Smith says
This was extremely good. I would eat this again any time.
Emma Johnson says
You are a joy to be around.