Looking for a luxurious restaurant-quality meal that you can easily make at home? Look no further than this creamy lobster pasta! Featuring perfectly cooked lobster tails, garlic, butter, cream, and parmesan cheese, this dish is sure to impress your date or loved ones.
With just a few simple ingredients and less than 30 minutes of cooking time, this homemade lobster pasta is an easy yet impressive meal. Don’t be intimidated by cooking lobster tails at home – it’s actually quite simple! See my post on how to cook lobster tails 5 ways, or just boil the lobster tails using this easy method:
In a saucepan, bring salted water to a boil, and drop thawed lobster tails in the water for 30 seconds per ounce (mine were 4 ounces each so I did 2 minutes in total). The lobster is cooked when the flesh is white and opaque. Shell it, cut it up, and toss it with your pasta and easy cream sauce.
So if you’re looking for a decadent yet quick and easy meal that’s perfect for date night or Valentine’s Day dinner, make this creamy lobster pasta! Whether you’re cooking for yourself or your special someone, this dish is sure to impress.
Looking for more easy yet impressive seafood dishes? Try my Garlic Shrimp Pasta, or this easy Fish Piccata.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Rich and decadent, yet easy to make. This elegant dish is surprisingly easy to make. The hardest part is to cook the lobster tails, but all you have to do is boil them for a couple of minutes and shell them. It’s so simple!
- Ready in less than 30 minutes which makes it perfect for a special but quick and easy dinner. Trust me, or start the timer, and check!
- Perfect for date night or Valentine’s Day dinner! Lobster is quite expensive, but this is still much cheaper than a restaurant. Looking for a special dinner idea to impress your loved one? Make this lobster spaghetti!
Where to Get Lobster Meat?
I usually buy lobster tails from Costco, they’re raw and frozen and come in a pack of 2 (each is 4-5 ounces). You can also find lobster meat online, or in your local supermarket. Lobster tails seem to be easier to find than whole lobsters.
If there’s a local seafood market near you, you can also try there and many will even steam it for you. Buy a live lobster, and ask them to steam it as you do the rest of your shopping so you can come back and pick it up later.
The Ingredients
To make this creamy lobster pasta, you’ll need:
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Lobster: You can use the whole crustacean (claw meat is tender and sweeter), or just get lobster tails. I use lobster tails because they’re easier to find and shell. I buy raw frozen lobster tails that I thaw, boil, shell, and dice before adding to the creamy pasta. There are many ways to cook lobster tails, find them here. This is also a great way to use up any leftover lobster meat.
- Pasta: You will need dry uncooked pasta, I used spaghetti in this recipe because that’s what I had on hand. But bucatini, tagliatelle, and fettuccine are all good choices. Avoid using angel hair pasta or short pasta shapes.
- Butter, and garlic – This is what we will start our cream sauce with, and where most of the flavor is! I use 2 cloves of garlic, but feel free to add more!
- Cream – Heavy cream (called double cream in the UK) works best here, cream is emulsified with the reserved pasta cooking water, and creates a beautiful silky cream sauce that clings to the pasta. If you’re watching the calories, you can sub with half and half (single cream), but I don’t really recommend that as your sauce will be thinner.
- Parmesan – Always use the real stuff (Parmigiano Reggiano block and avoid the powdered stuff). Parmesan will give the sauce a savory flavor (so be careful with adding salt), it will also help thicken the cream sauce.
- Salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley. Paprika is totally optional but gives a nice flavor and color to the cream sauce (use sweet or smoked paprika).
How To Make Lobster Pasta
- In a medium-sized saucepan with salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, as the pasta is being cooked, in a skillet over medium-high heat melt the butter and add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add paprika, and cook for 10 more seconds.
- Add heavy cream, and stir it with butter and garlic. Then add the parmesan and stir and cook until the parmesan has melted.
- Add the chopped lobster meat, and mix it with the sauce.
- Add cooked pasta with the reserved pasta water, toss it with the sauce, and cook for 1 minute until it’s warmed. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings to your preferences.
- Garnish with parsley, and extra parmesan cheese if desired. You can also squeeze some fresh lemon juice (optional) over the pasta before serving.
Tip!
Don’t overcook the garlic. Garlic cooks very quickly (about 30-60 seconds), and burnt garlic tastes terrible so keep an eye on it as you cook.
Recipe Tips
- Cook the pasta to al dente. I recommend cooking the pasta until al dente, do not overcook it. Remember that you will toss the pasta with the lobster and sauce over a gentle heat, so cooking it until it’s soft will make it mushy.
- Add more garlic. I’m using 2 cloves of garlic here that are minced and added to the sauce. If you love garlic, you can use 3 or 4 medium cloves.
- Don’t forget to reserve pasta water. When cooking pasta, always reserve pasta water as it’s starchy and perfect for thinning out pasta sauces. This recipe is designed in a way that you’ll need pasta water to thin the sauce out.
Storing Tips
Leftover lobster pasta can be stored in an airtight container and placed in the fridge for up to 3 days. When ready to eat, reheat the pasta over a gentle heat until warmed through. You will need to add a splash of pasta water or just water to thin it out as it will thicken when cooled.
I don’t recommend freezing creamy pasta dishes as the texture changes when frozen and reheated.
What To Serve With
Serve lobster pasta with a green side salad for a complete meal. You can also add a slice of crusty bread to sop up that delicious sauce, or bake some delicious breadsticks or biscuits.
Lobster pasta is also great as a side dish to grilled steak.
Enjoy making and eating this delicious lobster pasta recipe! Make sure to pin it so you can make it over and over again.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Creamy Lobster Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (225g) uncooked pasta use spaghetti or bucatini or tagliatelle
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon paprika optional
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream double cream in the UK
- ½ cup grated parmesan use the real stuff, parmigiano reggiano, grate from a block – avoid powdered stuff it tastes terrible
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 4-ounce lobster tails cooked, peeled and chopped (see my how to cook lobster tails post)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan with salted water, cook pasta according to the package instructions to al dente. When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, as the pasta is being cooked, in a skillet over medium-high heat melt the butter and add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Add paprika, and cook for 10 more seconds.
- Add heavy cream, stir it with the butter and garlic. Then add the parmesan and stir and cook until the parmesan has melted. Add the chopped lobster meat, and mix it with the cream sauce.
- Add cooked pasta with the reserved pasta water (start with ½ cup), toss it with the sauce, and cook for 1 minute until it’s warmed (add more pasta water if needed). Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Garnish with parsley, and extra parmesan cheese if desired. You can also squeeze some fresh lemon juice (optional) over the pasta before serving.
Notes:
- This recipe makes 2-3 large servings, or 4 smaller ones.
- Cook the pasta to al dente. I recommend cooking the pasta until al dente, do not overcook it. Remember that you will toss the pasta with the lobster and sauce over a gentle heat, so cooking it until it’s soft will make it mushy.
- Add more garlic. I’m using 2 cloves of garlic here that are minced and added to the sauce. If you love garlic, you can use 3 or 4 medium cloves.
- Don’t forget to reserve pasta water. When cooking pasta, always reserve pasta water as it’s starchy and perfect for thinning out pasta sauces. This recipe is designed in a way that you’ll need pasta water to thin the sauce out.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Diana Martinez says
This was delicious! I had never cooked lobster before and I found this to be a very good beginner recipe. The sauce was a little sparse, but I think that’s because my lobster tails were a little on the large side. So I just added more cream and butter.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Thank you for coming back with the great review! I’m so happy that the recipe was beginner friendly for you.
Linda says
This was delicious! Hubby and I both loved it. I especially loved the simplicity of the recipe. I’ll be using it again. I’m already thinking about how to switch it up with shrimp and what to add to it.
Andrea Smith says
Delicious! Even my picky 11 year old son loved it.