One of the best parts of diving, whether you’re a scuba diver or freediver, is the fact that you can catch your own food while having fun.
In Florida, the season for lobster starts on August 6th and runs through March 31st.
That gives us a lot of time to catch lobster, stuff our freezers, and give plenty away to friends.
At the beginning of the season, we will eat lobster any which way - the simpler the better.
Grilled, sauteed, or fried up into nuggets.
We wanted to give you a couple recipes to try for those days you’re looking to spice up your lobster life.
Keep reading to add two new Florida spiny lobster recipes to your kitchen repertoire!
Florida Spiny Lobster Pasta
30 minute home chefs unite!
This is a very simple recipe that tastes too good for being so easy.
The amount of lobster you need will depend on how many people will be eating.
A good rule of thumb is at least one lobster per person.
We don’t like to waste around here, so we keep the lobster whole.
Feel free to use just the tails.
Note this recipe is ideal with fresh (Florida spiny) lobster, but absolutely works with frozen tails if that’s what you have.
What you’ll need for the Florida Spiny Lobster Pasta:
- Florida Spiny Lobster
- Pasta
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh parsley
- Olive oil
- Water (to boil the lobster)
Start by putting a big pot full of water on the stove on medium-high, bring it to a boil.
Once the water is boiling, add your lobsters and bring the temperature down to medium, with a lid on.
Cook the lobster for about 10-15 minutes, the lobster will turn bright red.
Take the lobster out, put aside…
And DO NOT dump the water.
This is the secret sauce…
You use the water from the lobsters to boil your pasta.
Cook your pasta al dente, according to the package instructions.
Make sure to salt your pasta water by adding a generous amount of sea salt, at least a palm full.
Once the pasta reaches al dente, strain your pasta, but do not rinse.
With the shells still on, cut the lobster in half.
This is best done with shears once the lobsters have cooled off a bit or a sharp knife on a cutting board with precision.
Toss your pasta and cut lobsters into a large saute pan to warm it all up together.
Add olive oil and fresh garlic, generously.
Serve warm with added olive oil and fresh garlic on top.
Add black pepper and fresh parsley for a delicious garnish and pop of color.
Enjoy with crusty bread!
Florida Spiny Lobster Pasta Recipe
Serves 4
1 pound of pasta of your choice (we use spaghetti or fettuccine)
4 Florida spiny lobsters cooked whole
4 quarts of water
Lots of Garlic
Olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh parsley for garnish
Black pepper for garnish
- Put 4 quarts of water to boil the lobster
- Add sea salt - about a palm full, be generous
- Cook lobsters for about 10-15 minutes until they turn bright red
- Take a cooked lobsters out of the pot and place aside, DO NOT dump your water
- Use this water to cook your pasta al dente, typically 7-8 minutes, check your the pasta packaging for accurate instructions
- Once al dente, strain your pasta. Do not rinse your pasta.
- With the shells still on, cut tails in half, add the lobster heads for a dramatic effect, toss all together in a generous amount of olive oil and fresh garlic in a large saute pan briefly to heat up all together
- Serve warm with added olive oil, fresh garlic, black pepper, and fresh parsley on top, best accompanied by bread. Enjoy!
Florida Spiny Lobster Salad
This recipe is light, delicious, and feels like summer.
Great recipe if you don’t have many lobsters but you’re looking to feed a few people.
In this case, we would say 1 lobster could feed two people, but if you’re really hungry, better stick to the rule of one per person.
What you will need for this lobster salad:
- Florida spiny lobster tails
- Onion (ideally red onion but any onion will work)
- Celery
- Mayonnaise
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Dash of Tabasco
- Sweet rolls or hoagie rolls
- Water to boil the lobster
Let’s start by cooking your lobsters by bringing 4 quarts of water to a boil.
Once the water is boiling, add your lobsters and bring the temperature down to medium, with a lid on.
Cook the lobster for about 10-15 minutes, the lobster will turn bright red (feel free to dump the water).
Take the lobsters out and set aside to cool fully.
Now dice the onion and celery into small cubes.
Once the lobster is fully cooled, cut its tails in half and remove from the shell.
After removing all the lobster from shells, chop the lobster meat into one-inch cubes.
Add the cubed lobster, celery, and onion into a bowl and add the mayonnaise, salt, black pepper, and Tabasco sauce…
Add more Tabasco if you like heat.
Stir it all up and serve on a sweet roll like King’s Hawaiian or a hoagie roll.
Add sliced tomatoes and greens to make it a full sandwich.
Best enjoyed at room temperature or cold.
Enjoy with friends after a day of diving or when you have some frozen lobsters waiting to get eaten!
Lobster Salad
Serves 4
3-4 Florida spiny lobster tails
1 onion (ideally red onion but any onion will work)
6 ribs of celery
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
Dash of Tabasco
Package of sweet rolls
- Cook your lobster tails by bringing 4 quarts of water to boil
- Allow the lobster to boil on medium for about 12-15 minutes, the lobster will turn bright red (feel free to dump the water).
- Take the lobsters out and set aside to fully cool.
- Dice the onion and celery into uniform pieces.
- Cut the lobster tails in half to remove lobster meat from the shell.
- Chop the lobster meat into one-inch chunks.
- Add the lobster chunks, chopped celery, and onion into a bowl.
- Add mayonnaise, sea salt, black pepper, Tabasco, and stir.
- Squeeze lemon and add fresh parsley for garnish.
- Serve with sweet rolls or on a hoagie with sliced tomatoes and greens of your choice - enjoy!
Your Turn!
We’re looking at you, Chef!
Leave us your favorite lobster recipes and let us know if you made either of the ones in this blog post.
We love keeping an arsenal of recipes…
It’s one of the best topics of conversation amongst divers.
Divers aren’t just great hunters, they can be great cooks too!
Lobstering is a sustainable way to eat and it’s also delicious!
This year, we started offering lionfish & lobster derbies during lobster season…
Come out to protect the reefs, grab some dinner, and win some prizes!
We give prizes to the most lionfish, biggest lionfish, smallest lionfish, and largest lobster by carapace.
We’re giving cash prizes and trips on Lady Go Diver!
Click here to learn more and sign up!
Until next time…
Happy diving!