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This grilling season, bring out the lobster! These incredibly easy Grilled Lobster Tails with Bourbon Sauce are grilled to perfection and coated with a bourbon butter sauce.
The husband and I honeymooned in Mexico — or rather, we honeymooned in fake Mexico.
The resort we stayed at blocked the world out with thick gates and a private beach. You could drink the water, and everyone spoke English. In other words, I’ve been to Mexico, but I didn’t see Mexico.
One night while we were there, the resort served us grilled lobster tails on the beach — and I did a happy dance.
Literally: I held the lobster tails up in the air and did a little dance in my chair!
These easy Grilled Lobster Tails with Bourbon Sauce are my version of the grilled shellfish we ate in Mexico. They’re EASY to make, perfect for grilling, and decadently topped with bourbon!
Lobster tails are also amazing broiled – and don’t forget the butter sauce!
How to Prepare Lobster Tails for the Grill
To make your tasty Grilled Lobster Tails, you’ll start by butterflying the shell.
What does that mean?
Take kitchen shears, and cut through the curved part of the shell.
Then, using a knife, slice the meat almost– but not quite– to the other side.
Next, lay your lobsters open like a book, and brush them with the bourbon and butter mixture.
Set your tails, flesh side down, on a hot grill.
Put the lid on the grill, and leave the tails alone for 4-5 minutes.
Once the tails are bright red and easily release from the grill, flip them, brush more of the bourbon butter on the lobster flesh, and grill them another 4-5 minutes.
To remove the meat from the tail, simply peel the shell backwards until the shell pulls away, and use your fingers to pull out any meat left inside the shell.
Grab some napkins, drizzle a little more bourbon butter over your lobster meat, and dig in!
Want more tips about how to grill seafood? Check out this post on How to Grill Fish!
Want more GRILLED SEAFOOD ideas? Try these:
- Grilled Scallops with Bourbon
- King Crab Recipe: Crab Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Sockeye Salmon Recipe: Grilled Chili Lime Salmon
Want more COOKOUT recipe ideas? Try these:
Grilled Lobster Tails with Bourbon Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 lobster tails (~4-ounces each)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces bourbon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high.
- Butterfly the lobster tails by using kitchen shears to cut open the shell on the top curved section of the tail. Cut from front to tail, and stop just before the tail. Next, use a sharp knife to slice through ¾ of the lobster flesh (along the previous cut), taking care not to cut all the way through. Open the tail up like a book.
- Melt the butter, and mix in the salt and bourbon. Brush the lobster flesh (not the shell), with the butter-bourbon mixture.
- Set lobster tails, flesh side down, on the grill. Cover the grill, and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the shells are bright red and the tails release from the grill plate.
- Flip tails so that they are shell-side down, and brush the lobster flesh with the butter mixture again. Grill another 4-5 minutes.
- Drizzle any remaining butter sauce over the tails just before serving.
Wow great prep description! Would you believe my husband thought that the tail meat naturally came out of the shell as they cooked? Obviously he doesn’t cook LOL!
I’ve never grilled lobster before! Can you believe it? Hubby is not the hugest fan of lobster (I am, though) so we don’t get too often. Lovin’ your pics and description. P.S. Can’t blame ya for doing a happy dance when you did try it for the first time 😉 Would love to see a pic of that!
Gasp! He doesn’t love lobster?? Well I probably wouldn’t buy it often either then. Maybe you can make it for a girl’s night!
We have just entered lobster season here in South Florida so your recipe couldn’t be more appropriate! Of course, we have spiny lobsters, not the ones with the big claws, but that’s ok — I know they’ll be delicious with your bourbon and butter sauce. I mean, seriously… bourbon and butter? What’s not to love?
I haven’t tried spiny lobsters yet! I’ll have to invite myself over and eat some of yours lol
I love lobster and these sound fantastic with that bourbon butter!
These sound just amazing! I have never made my own at home, and especially not on the grill, and I think that is genius! You know I love the bourbon in this, I bet it just makes it taste divine! Thanks for the inspiration!
Ooo give it a try!!! It’s super easy this way!
We honeymooned in mexico too 🙂 We too were at one of the gated complexes with the English speakers and the ‘westernized’ restaurants but we ventured out a lot and tried a lot of local hotspots. These lobsters sound AMAZING!! I love lobster, but have never actually cooked it myself (a wee bit scary), so I appreciate all of the tips! Trying this for our next date night (otherwise the kids will eat them all)
We planned on leaving the resort, but it was pretty far from civilization lol. We stayed put! Let me know how your lobster date goes!!!
I don’t really remember the first time I had lobster, but I’m with you – one taste and I was hooked. That being said, I’ve always felt that lobster deserves a little bit more than just butter. True, it has a wonderful flavour on its own, but that flavour is really accentuated by a wider palette of ingredients. I’ve always been partial to the Cantonese treatment, with herbs and salty soy-sauces, done in a wok. When done right, it’s a really great recipe. Bringing it back to butter though, I think you really hit the nail on the head with the bourbon. All of that rich buttery goodness plus the distinctive and wonderful kick of bourbon, plus grilling? Perfect!
I’ll have to try it with some salty soy seasonings, that sounds delicious!!! And thanks! I love bourbon on my seafood 😉
I’ve only had lobster at restaurants and I love it. This post really helps because I would totally be scratching my head if I had to prepare lobster. It’s so different from crab!
Maybe I’ve just had more practice with lobster, but I find it a lot easier to work with than crab! (The tails are anyway).. It’s bigger and the meat doesn’t fall apart quite as easily. I’ll eat either one though 😉