This Lobster Soufflé is an elegant showstopper and one of Julia Child’s finest recipes. It is creamy, savory, and baked to golden perfection. Perfect for holidays, anniversaries, or any special celebration!
Want more of Julia Child’s amazing recipes? Then try her L’Omelette Roulee or Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce, two more great examples of eggs performing deliciously. Or another beautiful egg recipe is our Croque Madame for the perfect lunch.
Disclosure: I was compensated by Egg Farmers of Alberta for this post. All opinions and experiences are my own.
We have for you one of the best recipes with Julia Child’s Lobster Cheese Souffle. Julia says, “The souffle is undoubtedly the egg at its most magnificent, the egg in its puffing power.” It surely is, what a magnificent thing to behold.
Eggs are a fast, easy, economical, and nutritious way to feed your family for not only breakfast and lunch but for dinner, too. Many recipes using eggs are well under the 30-minute mark, so you have a meal on the table or in the lunchbox in no time. Above all, they pack a big wallop of protein in such a small and nutrient-dense package. This soufflé is a great example of eggs performing amazingly.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Amazing flavor
- Inexpensive, one lobster tail for 4!
- Elegant and impressive
- Not as hard as it looks
- Eggy and delicious
Helpful Items for This Recipe
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Dish for Souffle, Creme Brulee, Pudding, Custard, White (8 inch)
4 Piece Stainless Steel Serving Spoons Set, 10-Inch, Includes 2 Large, 2 Slotted
Professional Cheese Grater – Stainless Steel, XL Size, 4 Sides
What are the Ingredients in a Lobster Souffle?
Recipe Ingredients
Parmesan or other hard cheese – Other examples are pecorino or an asiago.
Butter – I use regular salted butter as that is what I normally have on hand.
AP flour – This flour is a good old workhorse in so many recipes.
Hot milk – Make sure your milk is hot, as it won’t make the roux lumpy when added.
Paprika, Nutmeg, Salt and White pepper – These spices, in particular, add to the flavor of the lobster to make it even more delicious.
Egg yolks and Egg whites – You put the yolks in the batter and then beat the egg whites until light and fluffy.
Cream of tartar – This helps to stabilize the egg whites and keep them inflated.
Gruyere cheese – This is the perfect cheese to enhance the lobster and give the dish an all-over amazing flavor.
Lobster tail – You can use an average lobster tail of about 6 – 8 oz.
White wine – This is what the lobster is poached in. Use what you are drinking as long as it is not too sweet.
How to Make Lobster Soufflé
Butter a 7 1/2″ – 8″ round souffle dish. Roll the grated Parmesan around the sides and bottom of the dish. Have ready an aluminum collar that is 3″ above the dish and a straight pin to secure.
Pour white wine into a small saucepan and bring to boiling. Place lobster tail in and poach for approximately 8 min. Plunge into an ice bath to cool quickly. Let cool and remove meat and chop finely.
Preheat the oven to 400F and set the rack to the lower third level.
Making the Bechamel Sauce
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan and add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Do not brown.
Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Pour in all the hot milk at once and whisk vigorously to blend. Return the saucepan to the heat, and with a wooden spoon, stir and let boil slowly for 3 min. The sauce will turn very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the paprika, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
One by one, whisk in the egg yolks. Add cooked lobster.
Adding in the Egg Whites
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar to stiff, shiny peaks. Scoop a quarter of the egg whites and stir into the egg yolk mixture. Turn the rest of the egg whites on top and gently fold in with a wooden spoon, alternately adding sprinkles of the grated Gruyere cheese. Spoon mixture into the prepared dish and place the aluminum collar on and secure with the pin.
Place in the oven. Reduce heat to 375F, bake for 30-35 minutes or until the souffle has puffed 2-3 inches and the top is nicely browned. You can slide a cake tester into the outer edge to make sure it is done.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the collar. Bring to the table immediately and plunge two spoons into the center and pull the souffle apart. Serve onto individual plates. Lovely with a salad.
You have only a few minutes to observe the souffle in its height, as when it starts to cool, it starts to deflate. So this is something that needs to go from oven to table immediately.
Julia uses a technique that I watched on her DVD, using two spoons plunged into the middle, and then you pull the souffle apart and serve.
Recipe Pro Tips
lobster Soufflé Additions and Tips
You can add many things to a souffle, like spinach, broccoli, seafood, and salmon. We decided on cheese souffle; it seemed to be worthy of this seafood. Even though some people say not to mix seafood and cheese together, I think that is an old suggestion.
1. Use room-temperature ingredients
Eggs, milk, butter, and any additions (like cheese or lobster) should all be at room temperature for smooth mixing and maximum lift.
2. Butter and sugar (or cheese) the ramekins properly
Coat the ramekin with soft butter, then dust with:
- granulated sugar for sweet soufflés
- grated Parmesan for savory soufflés
This gives the batter something to “climb” as it rises.
4. Fold gently and slowly
Use a large rubber spatula. Cut through the center, sweep around the sides, rotate the bowl, but don’t stir. Stop folding once streaks just disappear.
5. Preheat the oven fully
The initial blast of heat is critical for lift. Never put a soufflé into a warming oven.
6. Don’t open the oven door
Soufflés are sensitive to temperature drops. Check through the window and use the oven light.
7. Bake on the lower-middle rack
This keeps the top from browning too fast while allowing an even rise.
8. Fill the ramekins almost to the top
A soufflé rises straightest when the batter sits close to the rim.
9. Run your thumb around the inside edge
After filling, run a fingertip around the rim of the ramekin — this helps it rise straight up, not sideways.
10. Serve immediately
Soufflés begin deflating within 1–2 minutes. Take to the table as soon as the top is puffed and golden.
It was out-of-this-world fantastic!!!! We were all in epicurean heaven!!! This was a very memorable experience. Light and creamy and melting in your mouth. Come with us to explore this magical recipe, you will not be disappointed!!
DO YOU WANT MORE EGGCELENT EGG DISHES?
We love eggs and have them frequently by themselves or in recipes. Eggs are so versatile and still very inexpensive.
Julia Child’s Lobster Soufflé Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. butter
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 1 cup hot milk
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- fresh grating of nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 grinds of white pepper
- 4 egg yolks
- 5 egg whites
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
- Lobster tail
- 1/2 cup white wine
Instructions
- Butter a 7 1/2″ – 8″ round souffle dish. Roll the grated Parmesan around the sides and bottom of the dish. Have ready an aluminum collar that is 3″ above the dish and a straight pin to secure.
- Preheat the oven to 400F and set the rack to the lower third level.
- Pour white wine into a small saucepan and bring to boiling. Place lobster tail in and poach for approximately 8 min. Plunge into an ice bath to cool quickly. Let cool and remove meat and chop finely.
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan and add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Do not brown.
- Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Pour in all the hot milk at once and whisk vigorously to blend. Return the saucepan to the heat, and with a wooden spoon, stir and let boil slowly for 3 min. The sauce will turn very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the paprika, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. One by one, whisk in the egg yolks. Add cooked lobster.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch ot cream of tartar to stiff, shiny peaks. Scoop a quarter of the egg whites and stir into the egg yolk mixture. Turn the rest of the egg whites on top and gently fold in with a wooden spoon, alternately adding sprinkles of the grated Gruyere cheese. Spoon mixture into the prepared dish and place the aluminum collar on and secure with the pin.
- Place in the oven. Reduce heat to 375F, bake for 30-35 minutes or until the souffle has puffed 2-3 inches and the top is nicely browned. You can slide a cake tester into the outer edge to make sure it is done.
- Remove from the oven and carefully remove the collar. Bring to the table immediately and plunge two spoons into the center and pull the souffle apart. Serve onto individual plates. Lovely with a salad.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Comments & Reviews
Kristi says
What size lobster tail? The ones I can find here are small. Like 3-4 ounces of meat.
Tara Noland says
I would say an average size like 4-5 oz. would work fine.
Russell Lowell McLaughlin says
the recipe says “1/2 Gruyere”. Is that 1/2 pound, 1/2 cup, 1/2 wheel, 1/2 package???? Nobody can do this recipe. Frustrating. Please clarify.
Tara Noland says
So sorry for the typo, that is 1/2 cup. Happy Holidays!!
Jhay says
Hey Russell, it’s 1/2 cup of the gruyere cheese. Hope yours comes out great!
miranda says
Hi. Can you please tell me how many this recipe serves? I want to make it for 20!
Noshing with the Nolands says
Depends on what you are having with it but I would say 4-6 servings.
Vanessa @ Cakes and Teacups says
Oh my gosh…..Lobster Souffle, I would love to taste that. I bet it really is pure heaven…… : )
kitchenriffs says
It’s been so long since I’ve made a souffle. But when I did, it was Julia’s recipe, of course. I need to do one again. Lobster is a spectacular flavor in this – you must have been in heaven. Fun post – thanks.
Noshing with the Nolands says
Yes, we were in Epicurean Heaven!!