Making a Maine-Style Lobster Roll

By San Diego Entertainer | October 11, 2021

Are you dressing chilled lobster meat with creamy mayo? That’s how most folks in Maine like to prepare a dish with lobster. While some call it a cold lobster salad, lobster salad is something that’s a little different. The dish we’re looking for is where chilled lobster meat is generously loaded into a toasted split top roll before being finished with a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt, and a shake of pepper.

Native to New England roadside stands and clam shacks, lobster rolls are a special summer sandwich. The lobster roll is one of the most controversial foods because people have different ways of preparing it. 

Innovators prefer a tangy, crunchy, and slightly spicy version of the lobster salad that includes lemon juice, lettuce, celery, and a dash of cayenne. However, the purists believe that nothing should interfere with the mix of sweet tender summer lobster and mayonnaise. Hence, they prefer to leave out these extra ingredients.

In this post, we will be taking you through the classic Maine lobster roll recipe. We will be looking at the ingredients, how you can make traditional Maine-style lobster rolls and what you can pair these rolls with for an authentic New England experience.

It’s incredible how simple it is to prepare Maine-style Lobster Rolls. With the proper technique and a few simple ingredients, you can bring the flavors of Maine’s picturesque seashore to your table.

Ingredients

Maine-style lobster rolls are loaded with essential fresh ingredients. As we mentioned before, you might already have most of these in your kitchen. Probably the best thing about these lobster rolls is that you can get unique flavors out of these few ingredients.

You will realize how easy it is to properly prepare lobster rolls with three main ingredients: bread rolls, fresh lobster meat, and dressing. You could go and get bread rolls made by Pepperidge Farm from a nearby store. These bread rolls are baked with a brown crust on the sides. They hold up well and taste amazing when grilled with butter.

Lobster meat is, of course, the “maine” ingredient here. About 24 ounces of fresh-frozen lobster meat will be enough to make 6 good lobster rolls. For Maine-style lobster rolls, remember that it’s ideal if you can get big chunks of claw and knuckle meat.

All in all, you will need 6 top-split (New England–style) hot dog buns separated, half a cup of mayonnaise, two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, two tablespoons of salted butter, and some salt and pepper.

How to prepare classic Maine-style lobster rolls?

Let’s move on to the easy part now. Get a big bowl and mix your cooked lobster meat with the mayonnaise. Add some salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice before mixing up all the ingredients until the lobster meat is lightly covered.

You should use sea salt butter to brush both sides of each Pepperidge Farm top-split buns before toasting them in a skillet. It will take about two minutes for each side for the buns to turn golden.

Then you will have to open the top split roll until you feel like the roll is overstuffed. Keep piling in your chilled lobster meat. A fork can also help you seize every bit of lobster meat should it spills out.

That’s it! With these few simple and easy-to-follow steps, that’s how easy it is to prepare classic Maine-style lobster rolls.

What to serve with Maine-style lobster rolls?

Maine-style lobster rolls are great served with lightly-seasoned French fries or potato chips and coleslaw. You could also pair that with a cold beer or iced tea. 

However, remember that you’re looking for something crisp that will not overpower the flavor of the lobster. After all, for a classic Maine-style lobster roll experience, the lobster is king!