If you love mac and cheese, you’re sure to be head over heels for this lobster mac and cheese recipe. Loaded with shell pasta and delightfully gooey gruyere cheese, every bite will be heavenly. Top with crispy breadcrumbs and more cheese to finish off the perfect side dish or main entree.
Mac and cheese is probably so popular because everyone loves cheese and pasta. Cheese makes everything better and is definitely comfort food. I love it so much, I make this Four Cheese Mac and Cheese recipe often. I mean, the more cheese the better, am I right?
How to Make
- Prep – Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the lobster tails in a pot of boiling water and salt for 3-4 minutes. Place the tales in ice-cold water. Using the lobster water, cook your pasta according to the package.
- Make the cheese sauce – Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute. Add the milk and cook while stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the cheeses. Add salt, pepper, and pasta.
- Finish the lobster – In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and a tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside. Remove the meat from the lobster tails and cut them into small pieces. Cook in a skillet for one minute with some butter, chives, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Bake – Transfer the Lobster Mac and Cheese to a baking sheet and top with lobster meat and breadcrumb mixture. Bake for ten minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Storage – Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. I do not suggest freezing as the pasta doesn’t come back very tasty. The freezing process usually changes the texture of the pasta and makes it gooey or grainy.
- Reheating – Reheat in the microwave or in the oven in an oven-safe dish for only a few minutes.
- Switch up the cheeses – If you don’t prefer cheese such as gruyere, simply use your favorite cheese in its place. Do note that changing cheeses can change the flavor and consistency of the recipe.
- How to thin out the cheese sauce – If you feel that your cheese mixture, after being added to the milk, is too thick, you can add a dab of milk at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
- How to thicken the cheese sauce – If your cheese mixture is looking a little runny, add some more cheddar cheese in there to thicken it up. Be careful to only add a bit at a time though.
- Make it spicy – If you like a little spice to your mac and cheese, some crushed red peppers would do the trick. You could even add some diced jalapeno to the mix.
- Use other short pasta – Running low on shell pasta or fresh out? No problem, you can use any short pasta such as penne, bowtie, rigatoni, elbow macaroni, etc.
- Use the leftovers – You can use up the leftovers to make these Deep Fried Mac & Cheese Balls.
What Kind of Cheese is Best for Mac and Cheese?
This honestly depends on what you prefer for cheese. Mac and cheese can pretty much be made with any kind of cheese. I mean, cheese like feta or bleu cheese wouldn’t be a good cheese to use for the main cheese. However, mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere, gouda, etc. are all great options. I like using my favorite kind of cheese when it comes to my mac and cheese recipes. You can definitely do the same!
What Other Ingredients Can I Add to This?
Oh boy, that’s a loaded question. Mac and cheese is a super easy dish to adjust. You can add things like tuna, sausage, broccoli, cauliflower, jalapeno, hot sauce, chicken, beef, etc. The options are endless. If the ingredient would taste good with cheese on it, odds are, it will taste great added to mac and cheese.
If you tried this Lobster Mac and Cheese and loved it, or tried something different with the recipe, let me know in the comments below!
More Delicious Recipes:
You can find more delicious recipes and cooking tutorial videos on Youtube and Facebook.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 or more lobster tails
- 1 lb shell pasta
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- 1 cup gruyere cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Lobster Meat:
- 1 tsp chives
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Breadcrumbs:
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Fill a large pot with water and salt and bring to a boil. Cook the lobster tails for 3-4 minutes.
- Place the lobster tails in ice-cold water.
- In the same pot, you cooked the lobster tails, cook the pasta according to packaging instructions.
- While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet and melt 4 tbsp unsalted butter.
- Whisk in the flour and cook the butter/flour mixture for 1 minute.
- Stir in the milk and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and add the cheeses.
- Season with salt and pepper and then add the pasta shells.
- In a small bowl combine the breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp melted butter.
- Remove the lobster tails from the ice water and remove the meat from the shells.
- Cut the lobster meat into bite-size pieces.
- In a small skillet add some butter, lobster meat, chives, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
- Place the mac and cheese into a baking sheet and sprinkle the lobster meat on top. Cover with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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