There is something about a lobster roll that feels like summer, even in the dead of a New England January. It is one of those dishes that has a way of transporting you — to a picnic table by the water, to a paper plate balanced on someone’s lap, to the particular kind of happiness that comes from eating something simple and perfectly made.
My mother ate lobster rolls as often as she could get her hands on them. They were her favorite food — alongside, I should mention, liver and onions, which tells you something about the kind of eater she was. She had range, and she had conviction. Her lobster roll of choice was always cold, dressed lightly with mayonnaise, tucked into a buttery toasted split-top bun, and she was not particularly interested in any arguments to the contrary. Watching her eat one was a kind of joy in itself. That combination — cool, creamy lobster against a warm, golden bun — was simply her idea of a perfect meal. I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen honoring the things she loved, and this post is part of that.
This post is a little different from most of my recipe posts. Instead of a single recipe, I wanted to give you a full guide to regional lobster rolls — where they came from, what makes each one special, and how to make them at home. Whether you are a devoted cold mayo purist or curious about the warm butter rolls of Maine, there is a place for you here.
Use the table of contents below to jump to whichever style calls to you as there is no “Jump to Recipe” option. And if you make more than one, I truly will not be surprised.
Table of Contents
- A Brief History of the Lobster Roll
- The Legendary Split-Top Hot Dog Bun
- A Note on Lobster
- Regional Lobster Roll Recipes
- The Classic New England Cold Lobster Roll
- The Maine-Style Warm Butter Lobster Roll
- The Connecticut-Style Warm Drawn Butter Lobster Roll
- The New York–Style Lobster Roll
- The Cajun-Spiced Lobster Roll
- The West Coast Avocado Lobster Roll
- A Few Tips for Any Lobster Roll
A Brief History of the Lobster Roll
It is a little funny to think that lobster was once considered food for the poor. In the 1600s and 1700s, lobsters were so plentiful along the New England and Canadian coasts that they were fed to prisoners, indentured servants, and livestock. Servants in Massachusetts reportedly negotiated contracts specifically limiting how many times per week they could be served lobster. The ocean was full of them, and they were seen as little more than a nuisance. (If you want to go deeper on this history — and it is a wonderful rabbit hole — my Complete Guide to Seafood: From Ocean to Table covers the full arc of New England’s relationship with the sea, from the Indigenous peoples who first stewarded these waters to the collapse and slow recovery of modern fisheries.)
Things began to shift in the mid-1800s when canning technology and the railroad made it possible to ship lobster farther inland. City dwellers who had never seen a live lobster fell for it quickly, and it slowly began its transformation from “poor man’s protein” to prized delicacy. By the early twentieth century, lobster had firmly established itself as a luxury food — though in coastal New England, the people who had grown up eating it remained refreshingly unbothered by the fuss.
The lobster roll, though, is a twentieth-century invention. The most widely cited origin story places it at Perry’s, a restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, in 1929. The owner, Harry Perry, is said to have served a warm, butter-dressed lobster filling in a hot dog bun — a practical choice that made an otherwise messy ingredient easy to eat without silverware. Whether that story is entirely accurate is a matter of some friendly debate among food historians, but what is clear is that the split-top hot dog bun became the defining vessel for the New England lobster roll, and it remains so to this day.
Over the decades, different regions developed their own preferences — some for cold mayo preparations, some for warm butter, some adding celery or herbs or a dash of hot sauce. And as lobster rolls migrated beyond New England (particularly during the 2000s and 2010s food truck boom), new interpretations emerged in cities from New York to Los Angeles, each bringing something new to the conversation.
The Legendary Split-Top Hot Dog Bun
Before we get into the recipes, we have to talk about the bun, because in New England, the bun is not just a vessel — it is part of the recipe.
A New England-style hot dog bun is different from the kind you find at most grocery stores around the country. Instead of being attached at the bottom and hinged at the top, a split-top bun is cut down the center of the top, stands up on its own, and has flat sides. Those flat sides are crucial, because they are what you butter and toast on a flat griddle or pan, creating those golden, slightly crisp edges that contrast so beautifully with the soft interior and the cool or warm lobster filling.
If you live in New England, you can find these at almost any grocery store. Outside of the region, look for them at specialty grocery stores, New England-style seafood restaurants, or online. Pepperidge Farm makes a version that is widely distributed. In a pinch, a brioche hot dog bun works — just know it will be a bit different, a little sweeter and richer, which some people actually love.
The tradition of toasting the bun in butter is nearly universal across New England lobster roll preparations, regardless of whether the filling itself is cold or warm. It is a small step that makes an enormous difference, and I would encourage you never to skip it.
A Note on Lobster
For all of these recipes, the star ingredient is the lobster, and it is worth taking a moment to think about it. Freshly cooked lobster — steamed or boiled at home — will always give you the sweetest, most tender meat. If you have access to live lobsters, that is the most rewarding path, and I promise it is less intimidating than it sounds once you have done it a few times. My Complete Guide to Seafood goes into detail on selecting, storing, cooking, and cracking lobster if you would like a full walkthrough before you begin.
That said, I know that is not always practical, especially if you are not in a coastal area. Frozen lobster meat, thawed gently in the refrigerator overnight, works beautifully in these recipes and is widely available. Some grocery stores also sell pre-cooked fresh lobster meat from the seafood counter, which is a wonderful middle ground.
When cooking whole lobsters yourself, a 1¼ pound lobster yields roughly 4–5 ounces of meat — enough for one generous roll. Claws, knuckles, and tail all have slightly different textures, and keeping a mix of all three gives you the best eating experience. The claw and knuckle meat tends to be sweeter and more tender, while the tail has a firmer, meatier quality. Both are wonderful.
Regional Lobster Roll Recipes
Each of the recipes below serves 4 people. Scale up or down as your crowd requires. A single recipe uses about 1 to 1¼ pounds of cooked lobster meat total.
The Classic New England Cold Lobster Roll
This is the one. If you have only ever had one lobster roll in your life, it was probably something close to this — cool, lightly dressed lobster meat with just enough mayonnaise to bring it together, maybe a whisper of celery for crunch, served in a buttery toasted split-top bun. It is elegant in its simplicity, and there is a reason it has endured for nearly a century.
The philosophy behind a good cold lobster roll is restraint. The lobster is the thing. Everything else — the mayo, the celery, the lemon — exists only to enhance it, never to compete with it. The best ones I have ever seen come out of a kitchen are the ones where the cook had the good sense to get out of the way.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into generous chunks
- 3 tablespoons good-quality mayonnaise (Hellmann’s or Duke’s work well)
- 1 stalk celery, very finely diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- 4 New England-style split-top hot dog buns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- Bibb or butter lettuce leaves (optional, but traditional)
- Paprika and fresh chives for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, gently combine the lobster meat, mayonnaise, celery, and lemon juice. Season with salt and white pepper. Taste and adjust — you want the lobster to shine, so go lightly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to let the flavors come together. The filling can be made up to a few hours ahead.
- When you are ready to serve, heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Spread the softened butter lightly across the flat sides of each bun. Place them butter-side-down on the hot surface and toast until golden, 1–2 minutes per side. Watch them closely — they can go from golden to too-dark quickly.
- If using lettuce, tuck a leaf into the base of each toasted bun. This is a lovely old-school touch that adds a little cool crispness and keeps the bun from getting soggy if you are not eating immediately.
- Spoon the cold lobster filling generously into each bun. If you like, garnish with a light dusting of paprika and a few snipped chives. Serve immediately.
A few notes: White pepper is traditional and has a slightly different character than black pepper — a bit warmer and more subtle. If you only have black pepper, use it, but use it sparingly. And please, taste your lobster before adding any seasoning. Depending on how it was cooked, it may already carry a good amount of salt from the seawater.
The Maine-Style Warm Butter Lobster Roll
Ask a Mainer about cold lobster rolls and you will often get a polite but firm response: why would you cool down something that is already perfect? The warm butter lobster roll is the style that many Maine purists — and honestly, many coastal New Englanders — consider the truest expression of the dish. The lobster is gently warmed in butter, tucked into that golden-toasted bun, and served with nothing else standing in the way.
There is a kind of sweetness that comes out in lobster when it meets warm butter that you simply do not get with mayonnaise, and once you have had it this way, it is hard not to crave it. This style is especially popular at the many roadside lobster shacks and stands you find along the Maine coast — places where the lobster comes straight from the trap to the pot to the bun, and the whole experience takes about ten minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into large chunks
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 small clove garlic, very finely minced (optional — some purists omit this)
- A pinch of flaky sea salt
- Fresh lemon wedges for serving
- 4 New England-style split-top hot dog buns
- Fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat. If using garlic, add it now and let it soften for just 30 seconds — you want fragrance, not browning. Add the lobster meat and toss gently to coat, just until everything is warmed through, about 2–3 minutes. Season with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Remove from the heat.
- In a separate skillet or on the same skillet if you are working in stages, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Toast the flat sides of the buns until golden and fragrant.
- Fill each bun generously with the warm buttered lobster. Add a few snipped chives on top. Serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside — a little squeeze of lemon at the table is the only condiment this roll needs.
A few notes: The most important thing in this recipe is not overcooking the lobster during the warming step. Since it is already fully cooked, you are just bringing it back to a gentle warmth. Two to three minutes in butter over medium-low heat is plenty. Overcooking will make it rubbery, and that would be a shame.
The Connecticut-Style Warm Drawn Butter Lobster Roll
Connecticut lays a strong claim to the origin of the lobster roll, and the style associated with the state reflects that heritage. The Connecticut lobster roll is close in spirit to the Maine warm butter version, but it typically uses drawn butter — clarified or simply melted — rather than cooking the lobster in the butter itself. The lobster is warm, the butter is pooled and slightly pooling, and the whole thing is extraordinarily rich.
This is the kind of roll you eat with a lot of napkins and very few regrets. It is unapologetically indulgent, and it makes no apologies for that.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into large chunks
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Flaky sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- Fresh lemon wedges
- 4 New England-style split-top hot dog buns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, for the buns
- Fresh tarragon or chives for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Make your drawn butter: melt the 6 tablespoons of butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Let it sit undisturbed for a minute or two — the milk solids will settle to the bottom. Gently skim any foam from the top if you like, though this is optional. Keep warm over the lowest possible heat.
- Warm the lobster meat very gently. You can do this by placing the chunks in a heat-safe bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water (a double boiler style), just until the lobster is heated through. Alternatively, you can very briefly warm it in a skillet with just a small knick of butter. Either way, keep the heat low and gentle.
- Toast the buns in softened butter as described in the classic recipe above.
- Arrange the warm lobster in each bun and spoon 1–2 tablespoons of the warm drawn butter generously over the top of each roll. Season with a small pinch of flaky salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Garnish with tarragon or chives if desired. Serve with lemon wedges. Have plenty of napkins ready.
A few notes: Drawn butter is simply butter that has been melted and the milk solids allowed to settle. It has a cleaner, less “milky” flavor than whole melted butter and pools beautifully. If you want to go fully traditional, you can clarify it more thoroughly, but for a lobster roll, a simple drawn butter is exactly right.
The New York–Style Lobster Roll
New York City has embraced the lobster roll enthusiastically, and over the years a distinctly New York interpretation has developed — one that tends to be a little more dressed, a little more elaborate, and not shy about playing with flavors. You might find tarragon, a swipe of herb aioli, microgreens piled on top, or a brioche bun in place of the traditional split-top.
This version leans into those flourishes just a little, with an herb mayonnaise that brings a brightness and complexity to the filling without overwhelming the lobster. It is a beautiful roll, and it translates wonderfully to a home kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into generous chunks
- 3 tablespoons good mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely snipped
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus zest of half a lemon
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- 4 brioche hot dog buns or New England-style split-top buns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- A small handful of arugula or pea shoots
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon, tarragon, chives, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Fold in the lobster meat gently and season with salt and white pepper. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Toast the buns in softened butter until golden on both flat sides.
- Tuck a small amount of arugula or pea shoots into the base of each bun, then spoon the herb lobster filling on top. The greens add a lovely peppery contrast. Serve immediately.
A few notes: Tarragon is a wonderfully underused herb in American kitchens and it has a particular affinity for seafood and shellfish — something almost anise-like and delicate that lifts the natural sweetness of the lobster. If fresh tarragon is hard to find, you can use a very small amount of dried (about ¼ teaspoon) or substitute with fresh basil.
The Cajun-Spiced Lobster Roll
The lobster roll’s migration south and west has produced some genuinely wonderful variations, and the Cajun-spiced version is one of my favorites to make at home when I am craving something with a little more heat and personality. It takes the warm butter tradition and gives it a bold, smoky, spiced character that is deeply satisfying.
This one is a bit of a departure from tradition, and I say that with affection. It is the kind of recipe that understands its roots and then joyfully, respectfully, does something interesting with them.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into large chunks
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (store-bought or homemade)
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 1 small clove garlic, very finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 4 New England-style split-top hot dog buns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, for the buns
- Thinly sliced green onions and lemon wedges for serving
- A drizzle of hot honey (optional but wonderful)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it soften for about 30 seconds. Add the Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and cayenne, and stir to combine. Let the spices bloom in the butter for another 30 seconds — you will smell them opening up.
- Add the lobster meat and toss gently to coat in the spiced butter. Warm through for 2–3 minutes over medium-low heat. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and taste for seasoning.
- Toast the buns in softened butter until golden.
- Fill each bun with the warm Cajun lobster. Top with green onions and, if you are feeling adventurous, a very light drizzle of hot honey. The combination of sweet, spicy, and buttery is something special. Serve with lemon wedges.
A few notes: Cajun seasoning blends vary a great deal in their salt content, so taste as you go. If you are making your own blend, a simple combination of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, cayenne, and black pepper will work beautifully. The hot honey is genuinely optional, but if you have a bottle of it in your pantry, this is an excellent place to use it.
The West Coast Avocado Lobster Roll
When lobster rolls arrived in California and the Pacific Northwest, they encountered an entirely different culinary sensibility — one that reaches instinctively for avocado, citrus, and fresh herbs, and tends toward lighter, brighter preparations. The West Coast lobster roll is not trying to be a New England roll; it is doing something else entirely, and doing it beautifully.
This version uses a light citrus aioli instead of straight mayonnaise, layers in creamy avocado, and finishes with a little heat from jalapeño. It is fresh, vibrant, and a reminder that the lobster roll is a wonderfully generous canvas.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1¼ pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- Zest of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon honey
- 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
- ½ jalapeño, seeded and very finely minced (or more to taste)
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 4 brioche or New England-style split-top buns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, for the buns
- Lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lime juice, lime zest, and honey to make a quick citrus aioli. Taste and adjust — it should be bright and a little tangy. Gently fold in the lobster meat and season with salt and pepper. The lobster filling can be made up to an hour ahead and refrigerated.
- Toast the buns in softened butter until golden on both flat sides.
- Layer a few slices of avocado into the base of each toasted bun. Spoon the lobster filling on top, then scatter the jalapeño and cilantro over everything. Serve with lime wedges alongside.
A few notes: Avocado and lobster together is a combination that works beautifully — the richness of the avocado mirrors the richness of the lobster in a way that feels very intentional. If cilantro is not your thing (and I know it is not everyone’s thing), fresh mint or basil is a lovely substitute. A few thin slices of radish on top add a beautiful pop of color and a little peppery crunch if you want to go that extra step.
A Few Tips for Any Lobster Roll
Whichever style speaks to you most, a few principles hold true across all of them.
Always toast your bun in butter. This is not optional, and it is not fussy — it takes two minutes and it makes the entire roll significantly better. A warm, buttered, golden bun is part of the experience.
Do not overwork the lobster. Especially in the cold preparations, you want to fold the ingredients together just enough to combine them. Lobster meat is delicate and it should stay in recognizable, beautiful chunks, not become a paste.
Taste as you go. Lobster varies in its natural saltiness depending on how it was cooked, where it was from, and the time of year. Always taste your filling before seasoning, and add carefully.
Serve immediately. Once the bun is filled, the clock is ticking. A lobster roll is at its peak in the first five minutes. The filling can be prepared ahead of time, but assembly should happen right before eating.
Pair it simply. A cold lobster roll with a bag of chips, a pickle, and something cold to drink is genuinely one of life’s great meals. It does not need much company. If you want to add a side, coleslaw is traditional and wonderful, as is a simple green salad dressed lightly with lemon and olive oil.
I hope this guide gives you everything you need to explore the lobster roll in all its beautiful regional variety. Whether you are making the classic New England cold roll on a summer afternoon, warming lobster in butter on a rainy Saturday, or experimenting with the bright West Coast version for a dinner party, I think you are going to have a wonderful time with it.
As always, I would love to hear which version you try first. Let me know in the comments — and if you make one of these, I hope it brings you a little bit of that same table-by-the-water feeling, wherever you happen to be eating it.
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