An Easy and Amazing Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ready to make a steakhouse quality lobster mac and cheese side dish or dinner right in your own home?  Then you’re in luck!  This is one of our customer favorite recipes that we’ve been sharing since we started shipping lobster in 1999.

It takes a total of 40 minutes from start to finish, is beginner friendly, and we share everything from cheese alternatives and mixes so you can modify the flavor and creaminess to taste.  Below the cheeses you’ll find the different pastas that work perfectly with lobster mac and cheese to create a texture and shape that complements the meal.  

Click here if you’re looking for a gluten free lobster mac and cheese recipe, it was created custom for LobsterAnywhere by a renown chef.

Follow Along with Our Video Instructions for Lobster Mac N’ Cheese

If you’d like to see what each step in this recipe looks like, we’ve created the following video so you have a visual guide. And don’t forget, the key to any good lobster mac and cheese recipe is to start with great lobster meat and plenty of it!

Pro-tip: If you are baking your mac and cheese, the lobster will continue to cook and infuse the dish with wonderful flavors. Just make sure you do not overcook your lobster, as it will turn rubbery and tough. If you do not buy the pre-cooked lobster meat, here is our guide to cooking lobsters by size, time, and weight.

The Cheeses to Use for Lobster Mac and Cheese

There is no right or wrong cheese to use for the perfect lobster mac and cheese, it all depends on the creaminess, flavor, and textures you want.  Some cheeses have a nutty taste while others are sweet, and some add pure creamy goodness.  That’s why many top chefs will do a cheese blend instead of any single type of cheese in their signature style.

Here are the different types of cheese that can work for making lobster mac and cheese, and some of the ones they blend well with.

• Asiago – An Italian cheese from the Veneto region of Italy that has a semi-soft, mild flavor to add depth and a savory taste to the dish.  It combines perfectly on top of Fontina or Havarti as the asiago will crisp up and texture the top of these two cheese forming the creamy base.
  • Younger asiago is similar to Parmesan, but has a softer, nuttier flavor.  
  • Aged Asiago cheese has a sharper flavor, so use this sparingly or it will overpower the lobster.
• Brie – A soft, mild, creamy cow’s milk cheese with an earthy and mushroom like taste and texture making it perfect for a creamy, sauce-like base.  It pairs perfectly with Gruyère which adds a nuttiness and structured flavor to the creamy Brie.  
• Cheddar – Comes from cow’s milk and has a buttery and sharp flavor. Avoid using too much sharp cheddar as it turns oily when heated to high, and it overpowers the flavor of lobster when there is too much.  A younger White Cheddar will not overpower the lobster, and it adds a thicker and creamy texture to the pasta dish.  Gruyère and Fontina are the perfect balances to Cheddar cheese for this dish.  
• Colby – Is a mild cheese similar to cheddar but a little softer and shows off the flavor of the lobster rather than overpowers or competes with it.  If you use this for the base, a bit of Sharp White Cheddar can bring out more flavor, or a Gruyère will be a perfect match with the nutty and earthy flavors.
• Comté (or Gruyère de Comté) – This cheese comes from France and is unpasteurized with a nutty flavor.  Use a younger one aged up to 12 months as this will melt down and create a creamy and velvety sauce.  Parmesan is perfect for layering on top, and if you want added creaminess, mascarpone is your go-to in the base.
• Fontina – This Italian cheese is earthy, buttery, and slightly nutty.  While there is a Danish version, the Italian style is going to be better for lobster mac and cheese because of the flavor profile.  It is one of the best cheese for melting as the base of the sauce, and you can complement it with something nutty and stronger like Gruyère, Parmesan, or aged Asiago.
• Gouda – There are three Goudas, young, aged, and smoked; and all three styles work perfect for this dish.
  • Young complements the taste of the lobster, so you’ll want to add something like White Cheddar to bring in more cheesy goodness.
  • Aged has a sweet and savory quality that pairs perfectly with shellfish, and this is why it is also used in crawfish and crab mac and cheese.  White Cheddar or Parmesan can work as the complement.  
  • Smoked Gouda is the strongest of the flavors, so use it as a complement to a less intense cheese like Fontina or Havarti as the base.  
• Gruyère – This is the favorite for lobster mac ‘n cheese! It is an aged semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese and the flavor depends on age, but it is generally salty-sweet and nutty.  You can pair it with just about any other cheese, so experiment and have fun.  We recommend starting with White Cheddar, Fontina, Brie, Mascarpone, or Parmesan.
• Havarti – Perfect for a base, this is a cream colored cheese with sweet notes that complements the lobster’s taste and melts into a velvety texture.  It is going to need depth so you’ll want to use Gruyère or a Sharp White Cheddar as the complement.
• Manchego – This is an aged Spanish cheese with a taste similar to Monterey Jack that brings a nutty, tangy, and sometimes grassy flavor to the dish.  If you like a bit of a tangy taste, Manchego is your go-to.  Because it is strong, you’ll want to tone it down with Fontina or Havarti.
• Mascarpone – This sweet, rich, and buttery cheese comes from Italy’s Lombardy region and is made from pasteurized cow’s milk.  It is the chefs secret to an ultra-silky and smooth cheesy base, but it can lose some flavor, so make sure to bring it back up with Gruyère, Comté, or Parmesan.
• Mozzarella – If you’re looking for a mild cheese that tastes like fresh milk and won’t compete with the flavor of the lobster, Mozzarella is your best bet.  This is also the cheese that gives a “cheese stretch” so use it sparingly.  It can be combined with a sauce creating cheese like Havarti, and you’ll want to add some additional flavor with Gruyère, Fontina, or Parmesan.
• Muenster – Gives you a nice stretchy pull, but not as extreme as Mozzarella.  It has a very mild buttery flavor so it won’t overpower the dish, and that is also why it needs a complement cheese.  Something strong like a Sharp White Cheddar will do well, or go with a nutty cheese like Gruyère.  
• Parmesan-Reggiano – This is salty, savory, and nutty, plus it has a stunning pale yellow color to bring out the signature look you’d expect from this dish.  It is going to season the dish as it is powerful, so use it a bit sparingly and have a neutral base with a cheese like Mascarpone to balance it out.  
• Swiss – Can be a mild, sweet, nut-like cheese, and it is the base of many fondues which is why it melts perfectly for lobster mac and cheese.  It will not stand up on its own, so combine it with Fontina or Sharp White Cheddar to add some depth and create the consistency you’re looking for in each bite.

Pro-tip: Buy cheese in blocks and shred it yourself as pre-shredded cheese can be a mix of fillers and artificial junk. Plus blocks of cheese may be cheaper.  

Pasta Options for Lobster Mac and Cheese

Lobster mac and cheese requires pasta to fit on a fork and be easy to bite without blocking the chunks of lobster meat.  Unlike a lobster carbonara or linguini where you wrap the noodle in with the chunks of lobster meat, mac and cheese needs noodles that capture everything directly from the fork in the dish to your mouth without twisting and turning.  That’s why using smaller pasta noodles is always a better idea.

• Cavatappi – These are springy corkscrew noodles that are tiny and hollow on the inside, so saucy variations of lobster mac and cheeses can seep into the noddle.  They are a bit springy with the bite, and this matches perfectly with the crisp snap of the lobster meat and is the reason you’ll find it in most high-end restaurants as the noodle of choice for lobster mac and cheese.
• Elbow Macaroni – This namesake pasta is shaped like bent like an elbow and is the classic noodle for kids and adults mac and cheese at home.  The noodles are hollow so saucy cheese can make their way in adding extra cheesy goodness to each bite, and the texture is smooth when eaten allowing for the lobster’s texture to shine through.
• Gemelli – Their name means “twins” in Italian and it comes from the shape.  This short pasta is made of two strands twisted into a spiral or corkscrew shape.  The groves from the twisted noodle hold the sauce, and the bite is a slightly thicker dough bite since it is not hollow, so you get some of the dough feeling along the tender lobster.
• Penne – This medium-sized, ridged, cylinder-shaped pasta is made with egg and is one of the largest noodles recommended for lobster mac and cheese.  The noodle is hollow allowing for larger portions of sauce to fill it making each bite a saucy delight.  You’ll want to increase the lobster per person ratio a bit because these noodles can easily overpower it as they are on the larger side.  They also work perfect for a baked lobster mac and cheese vs. one where the ingredients are combined and finished in the sauce pan or frying pan.
• Farfalle – These bow-tie shaped pastas are a crowd favorite.  The pinched sides of the small-to-medium size noodles create pockets for the sauce, and the texture of the noodle complements the tender and springy lobster meat.  
• Orecchiette – This noodle is shaped like a little bowl and captures a ton of cheese sauce to make sure each bite has that creamy, gooey, goodness.  It is an advanced noodle for lobster mac and cheese as the noodles can and will cup together, and the stacked dough will take away from the texture of the lobster, not to mention stacked dough cannot hold cheese.  
• Rigatoni – This is another noodle perfect for baked lobster mac and cheese, just make sure you use larger chunks of claw and tail meat.  It is about the size of Penne pasta, but is tightly spiraled in shape.  It will hold the cheese inside the noodle and when served al dente, it should complement the lobster, not overpower it.  
• Rottini – This is another spiral shaped pasta, but it is not hollow and can be a bit larger and thicker than Gemelli.  The grooves catch the sauce and the textured noodle shape adds some nice mouthfeel to each bite that complements the feeling of the lobster meat.  It is a perfect alternative to elbow and Cavatappi noodles.

Now you have everything you need to make the perfect lobster mac and cheese at home. And if you’re looking for fresh lobster, you’re in the right place. We’ve been shipping lobster overnight across the USA since 1999, so order today.