Gordon Ramsay’s butter poached lobster is lobster tail meat gently cooked in melted butter with garlic, thyme, tarragon and a splash of white wine until the flesh turns opaque and just firm. It takes about 15 minutes, serves 2, and the butter never bubbles. I serve it sliced with the infused butter spooned over the top and a squeeze of lemon.
Ramsay poaches lobster across three books and always pairs it with butter sauces. In Passion for Seafood he calls poaching “my favourite way of cooking fish” and says to keep the heat so low that “only the occasional bubble should break on the surface.” In Uncharted he serves poached lobster with a beurre blanc of wine, shallot and cubed butter. I follow his poaching rules here with the lobster going into the butter instead of sitting next to it.
If the butter bubbles, you have lost the dish. Bubbling means it has split into fat and water, which boils the lobster from below and turns the meat rubbery. Keep the heat as low as your hob will go and watch the surface: still and golden is right, foaming is too hot.
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Gordon Ramsay Butter Poached Lobster Recipe
Course: DinnersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium2
servings10
minutes6
minutes480
kcal16
minutesLobster tails poached in butter with garlic, thyme and white wine, following the poaching rules Ramsay sets out in Passion for Seafood. Save the infused butter afterwards for pasta, risotto or a lemon beurre blanc.
Ingredients
2 lobster tails, about 170g (6 oz) each
200g (7 oz / ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh tarragon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Directions
- Remove the meat: Using kitchen shears, cut along the top of each lobster shell and carefully pull out the tail meat in one piece. Pat completely dry with kitchen paper. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Build the butter bath: Place the butter cubes in a small, heavy-based saucepan over the lowest heat. Once melted, add the white wine, garlic, thyme and tarragon. The butter should look like warm golden liquid with no bubbles breaking the surface.
- Poach the lobster: Gently slide the lobster tails into the butter. Poach for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once halfway through, until the flesh is opaque and just firm to the touch. If the butter starts to bubble, pull the pan off the heat for 30 seconds.
- Finish and serve: Lift the lobster out with a slotted spoon. Squeeze the lemon juice into the warm butter and stir. Slice or serve whole, spoon the infused butter over the top, and scatter with parsley.
FAQs
Which Ramsay books is this recipe based on?
Three. In Passion for Seafood he writes “lobster can be gently poached, then left to cool in the cooking liquor” and says to keep the heat so low that “only the occasional bubble should break on the surface.” In Uncharted he poaches lobster and serves it with a beurre blanc. In Ultimate Home Cooking he grills lobster with chilli, garlic and parsley butter.
I take his poaching temperature rules from the first two and the butter herb flavours from the third. The combination puts the lobster into the butter rather than cooking them separately.
How do I know when the lobster is done?
The flesh turns from translucent grey to solid white. Press gently with your finger: it should feel firm but still give slightly, like the pad of your thumb when you touch your index finger to it. If it feels hard or bounces back, you have gone too far.
Ramsay’s rule from Passion for Seafood is that poached fish should feel “just firm.” With lobster tails this size, 5 to 6 minutes in the butter is right. Thicker tails closer to 200g (7 oz) may need an extra minute.
How is this different from grilled lobster?
Ramsay’s grilled lobster from Ultimate Home Cooking butterflies the tail in the shell and cooks it on a hot griddle with chilli, garlic and parsley butter. The heat is direct and fast, which gives charred edges and smoky flavour.
Butter poaching is the opposite: no colour, no char. The lobster stays white and silky because it never touches anything hotter than warm butter. Grilling suits a barbecue. Poaching suits a dinner where you want the lobster to taste purely of itself.
Can I reuse the poaching butter?
Strain through a fine sieve to catch the herbs and garlic, then refrigerate. It keeps for up to a week and works as a finishing butter for pasta or vegetables. You can also whisk it into a lemon beurre blanc since the lobster flavour is already built in. Two spoonfuls of it also go into the cheese sauce of my lobster mac and cheese.
The shells are worth keeping too. Roast them at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes, then simmer in stock for a proper lobster bisque. One dinner becomes two meals.
What wine works best in the butter?
Dry and clean. Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. Ramsay uses dry white wine in his Uncharted beurre blanc and in lobster thermidor from Fast Food, always dry, never sweet or oaky. The wine adds acidity that stops the dish tasting flat.
Two tablespoons is enough. More dilutes the butter and drops the temperature. The wine is a seasoning here, not a cooking liquid.
