Stovetop Lobster Bake Recipe:
I love this Stovetop Lobster Bake recipe so much, it reminds me that it’s the time of year where you can find a crispness in the air and I always get a craving for seafood. September is also the month that my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, and we love to eat! I’m not sure how we exactly came upon this dish, but it has become a favorite tradition since the first year of our marriage. This dish changes year to year depending on what ingredients we can find in the area but we apply the same formula and we’ve never been disappointed! Depending on our mood, we listen to a little Frank Sinatra, have a couple of beers and just enjoy cooking together. 🙂 The key to this dish is in the arrangement of the ingredients in the pot and timing.
First make sure you grab a 16-quart size stockpot, add onions, garlic, a pale ale, and a cup of water. If I have my choice of beer, I typically use Sam Adams Pale Ale. Don’t forget to look for these garlic cloves when you empty the food to your platter. These will turn into a soft butter like consistency and is an AMAZING spread on your bread. SOOOOO good!
Now this is the secret to the dish, these Nori sheets (shown above), they are the things we use to make sushi rolls and yes, they are seaweed and stink like it. However, this makes any and all seafood that you found, frozen or fresh taste like it was just plucked from the water and steamed to perfection just for you. You will want to create a layer of these sheets covering the entire width of the pot (including the onions and garlic) trying not to double any on top of each other. I usually, use one full sheet and then cut another sheet to size, usually just in half, until I feel there is a good coverage. What happens is that as the water and beer start to boil the seafood on top will be cooked and steamed to perfection. Your house will stink of seaweed (really stink!) for a good 20 minutes but after that, you will only smell deliciousness! 🙂
Your next layer of food will be your potatoes and sausage of your choosing. My husband and I switch between which sausage we use depending on what we can find, I am always on the lookout for a really good high quality Spanish Chorizo, but if you cannot find it then use polish sausage, I like Hillshire farms Cajun style smoked sausage but if you are feeling adventurous feel free to pick your own flavor. If cooking for a large crowd, I definitely would go with the polish sausage (you get more for your money). Once you are done adding the potatoes and sausage, don’t forget to add the tablespoon of salt. It helps with the flavor of the potatoes. I use sea salt. Bring to a boil.
Next, add the lobsters, I mean it is a lobster bake. Now if you feel comfortable, the best would be to use 3 lobsters, however, in northwest Indiana sometimes it is hard to find good quality lobsters. So, instead we usually look for lobster tails and then get one tail per guest. Important to know though, if you add the whole lobster cook on high for 15 minutes, if using 6 lobster tails you only need to cook for 8 minutes. Then you are ready to add the clams and the corn, cover, and then cook for 6 more minutes. Another tip: if you like spicy flavors, feel free to throw a couple of de-seeded red jalapeno’s in when you throw in the corn. This adds nice color to your platter and a kick to your potatoes and corn. Add mussels and shrimp, cook covered until clams and mussels open, 6 to 8 minutes. Important tip on the shrimp, if you want the best flavor go with the shrimp with the shell on, it locks in soooo much flavor.
Once the clams and mussels have opened, use tongs to transfer seafood, corn, potatoes, and chorizo to a platter. Throwaway, any and all seaweed you find, it has served it’s purpose. Also, make sure to throw away any clams and mussels that never opened. There should be some delicious juices at the bottom of the pot. You will want to keep that. You strain the juice into a bowl so you just get the liquid and then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter to each bowl and stir with a fork until fully melted. This is for dipping your food into to get just a burst of flavor. The fresh baguette and the mussels are my favorites to dip. Last step is to squeeze the lemon over the seafood on the platter and viola’ you have stovetop lobster bake. The potatoes and corn are filled with the flavor of the seafood and are cooked to perfection. So delicious and super messy but fun! I already cannot wait to make this stovetop lobster recipe next year, my mouth is watering as I write you this post!
Stove top Lobster Bake
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Description
Enjoy this juicy, delicious cauldron of flavors. Perfect dish for special occasions and seafood lovers!
Ingredients
- 3 large white onions, cut into wedges (in fourths)
- 6 to 8 garlic cloves
- 1 bottle of pale ale
- 1 cup of water
- 1 to 3 Nori sheets (Seaweed)
- 1.5 pounds of small red potatoes
- 1 pound of polish sausage cut into fourths (or Spanish chorizo)
- 1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt
- 6 Lobster Tails (or 3 full Lobsters)
- 36 Littleneck clams, scrubbed
- 4 ears of corn, halved
- 2 pounds of mussels, debearded and scrubbed well
- 1.5 pounds of large shrimp (shell on)
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 2 lemons halved
- 1 fresh baguette
Instructions
- Add onions, garlic, beer and water to the 16-quart stockpot
- Cover with one layer of nori sheets
- Add potatoes, sausage, and salt
- Bring to boil
- Add Lobster Tails, cook on high heat, cover for 15 minutes
- Add Clams and corn
- Cover for 6 minutes
- Add mussels and shrimp
- Cook covered until mussels and clams open 6 to 8 minutes
- Remove all food to a platter using tongs, throwing out any seaweed found
- Also throw out any mussels or clams that did not open
- Squeeze lemon over all seafood
- Strain juices left in stockpot to a few bowls and add unsalted butter
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
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