What is a Lobster Roll? | Goldbelly (2024)

FAQs

What is a Lobster Roll? | Goldbelly? ›

A lobster

A lobster roll is a dish native to New England and Atlantic Canada. It is made of lobster meat served on a grilled hot dog–style bun. The filling may also contain butter, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper, with variants made in some parts of New England replacing the butter with mayonnaise.

Nothing is better than the pure, sweet taste of lobster. There are a couple of tricks if you want authenticity. You must use fresh, Maine lobster. And if you want an overflowing lobster roll you can eat with a fork, plan on one 1¼ pound lobster per roll.

Nutrition Facts

Restaurant offerings for lobster rolls range from 600 to 1440 calories and 34 to 98 grams of fat per serving! Lobster certainly isn't the problem: 3 ounces of cooked lobster meat contains 83 calories, 1 gram of fat and 17 grams of protein.

How Much Lobster Meat is in a Lobster Roll? You want to use the meat from one small (1 pound to 1 1/4 pounds) lobster per roll. This works out to be about three to four ounces of meat per roll.

A Maine lobster roll is served with the lobster meat chilled and dressed in mayo with some crunchy greens like chives, celery, and/or scallions. A Connecticut lobster roll is served warm, dunked in butter, on a toasted bun.

Because lobster has such a sweet, delicate flavor, strong seasoning or sauces easily overpower it. Discerning chefs know that only a little flavor enhancement–a dash of lemon or a touch of mayonnaise–is all that's needed for a delicious lobster roll.

Ingredients Needed:

Lobster: You'll want about 1/4lb of lobster meat per bun/person. Many grocery stores carry frozen, or refrigerated packaged or canned lobster meat. Claw, arm and knuckle meat is traditionally used in lobster rolls, but you can also purchase a whole lobster, steam it, and use all of the meat.

With a yield of around 30 to 40%, you should plan on about one and a half pounds of shell-on lobster per person, which will give you two 4- to 5-ounce lobster rolls.

If you're making a lobster roll just for yourself, all you need is a half-pound of lobster to make our easy, delicious lobster roll recipe. Knowing how much you need for one lobster roll makes it so easy to multiply.

Is lobster roll better with butter or mayo? ›

Some lobster lovers may prefer the cool and refreshing taste of chilled lobster with a touch of mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and seasoning on a buttered and freshly toasted bun. Others may favor warm, succulent lobster meat doused in drawn butter and served on a fluffy, slightly crunchy toasted bun.

Serve at Room Temperature

Whether you choose to serve lobster rolls hot or cold depends on whether you prefer butter or mayo. A traditional Maine-style lobster roll is mayonnaise-dressed and served cold. As New Englanders know, a cold, creamy lobster roll can hit the spot on a summer day.

Despite being moderately high in cholesterol, a 100-gram serving of lobster has less cholesterol than an egg. And when prepared well, lobster is low in saturated fats. This combines to make lobster a great option for people concerned about their cholesterol levels.

Morander pointed to many reasons for the price hikes (the current cost of a Lobster Landing roll is $26.50), but emphasized three: the quality of the meat, sourcing challenges, and the labor-intensive nature or roll-making.

For the lobster roll, nothing is as important as the type of roll you choose. For most people, the New England-style split-top hot dog bun is the way to go.

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is: “How much meat will I get from my live lobster?” Generally speaking, you should expect to get 3.2 oz of meat from a 1 lb. hard-shell lobster. We've found that 3.5 oz of lobster meat is the perfect serving size, so your 1 lb.

Maine: An authentic Maine lobster roll should be: “A hot dog roll, center cut, that is toasted—preferably buttered and then toasted—filled with nothing but fresh lobster meat; big chunks, not shredded, not frozen,” Gunst says. The meat is tossed with mayo, giving it a blush hue and a creaminess.

Opting for chopped tail meat will also work, but we'd recommend saving the tails for a more authentic experience. It's almost as if lobster knuckle and claw meat were made to be used in lobster rolls and the soft, succulent consistency makes 'em the best choice around.

With the addition of mayonnaise and lemon or warm butter, lobster rolls have a salty, briny flavor with a touch of sweetness. Lobster is a meaty crustacean that lacks a “fishy” taste if it's fresh. Fresh lobster has a sweet, light taste and melts in the mouth.

Morander pointed to many reasons for the price hikes (the current cost of a Lobster Landing roll is $26.50), but emphasized three: the quality of the meat, sourcing challenges, and the labor-intensive nature or roll-making.