# Butter-Poached Lobster with Soft Scrambled Eggs, Spinach & Sauerkraut > Sweet lobster warmed in drawn butter sits over soft, glossy scrambled eggs, with just-wilted spinach underneath. A generous forkful of cold sauerkraut cuts through the richness and turns last night’s lobster into a very good breakfast. - URL: https://www.chezjk.com/recipes/leftover-lobster-breakfast-butter-poached-lobster-soft-scrambled-eggs-with-tomal - Author: Jonathan Katzman - Cooked and photographed: 2025-03-03 - Recipe updated: 2026-10-23 - Serves: 4 servings - Tags: gluten-free, nut-free, pescatarian ![Butter-Poached Lobster with Soft Scrambled Eggs, Spinach & Sauerkraut](https://www.chezjk.com/api/images?path=9e5d6860-dd86-455e-b57b-e352c363fc57%2Faba4433bff069091.jpg) ## Lobster Tail Poached in Drawn Butter A gentle butter bath reheats the cooked lobster without browning it and provides just enough sauce to finish the eggs. ### Ingredients - 1 lb cooked, shelled lobster tail meat - 1/2 cup safely refrigerated leftover drawn butter, or freshly clarified butter - to taste fine sea salt, only if needed ### Instructions 1. Check the lobster carefully for shell fragments and cut across the tail into generous 3/4-inch pieces. Pat away excess moisture. 2. Melt the drawn butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Keep it around 175–185°F: hot but neither sizzling nor browning. 3. Add the lobster and turn gently through the butter, keeping the pieces mostly submerged by using a small pan. Reheat until the thickest pieces reach 165°F; begin checking after 5 minutes and remove pieces as they reach temperature. 4. Taste before adding salt. Lift the lobster out just before serving and reserve a little hot butter for spooning over the bowls. ### Notes - Use cooked lobster refrigerated within 2 hours of its original meal and kept at 40°F or below; use within 3–4 days of the original cooking date. - Use fresh butter if the leftover drawn butter sat out for more than 2 hours or was used as a shared dipping bowl. - Avoid holding the reheated lobster in hot butter while the other components cook. ## Soft Scrambled Eggs with Optional Lobster Tomalley Low heat and broad, gentle folds produce moist curds rather than a dry scramble. Butter gives the eggs their creamy texture without needing cream. ### Ingredients - 12 large eggs, preferably pasteurized for a soft scramble - 2 tbsp unsalted butter - 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste - 1 tbsp cooked lobster tomalley, optional original addition; see safety note ### Instructions 1. Read the tomalley safety note before deciding whether to include it. Whisk the eggs with the salt until the whites and yolks are fully combined. 2. Melt the butter in a medium nonstick saucepan or skillet over low heat without browning it. Add the eggs. 3. Stir slowly with a flexible spatula, sweeping the bottom and folding the forming curds over themselves. Move the pan off the heat briefly whenever the eggs start setting too quickly. 4. For the original tomalley variation, loosen the optional cooked tomalley with a spoonful of partially thickened egg, then fold it back into the pan as the curds form. 5. Continue gently until the eggs are moist and glossy but have no pools of raw egg. For standard food-safety guidance, bring the egg mixture to 160°F. Remove from the heat immediately and plate without holding. ### Notes - Tomalley is the lobster’s digestive gland and can concentrate contaminants and marine toxins that cooking does not reliably remove. Public-health guidance recommends avoiding it; omitting it is the safer choice, particularly for children and pregnant or nursing people. - The butter and lobster supply plenty of richness, so keep the eggs lightly salted until tasted with the other components. ## Gently Wilted Spinach Brief steaming keeps the spinach green and tender, while draining it prevents water from thinning the eggs and butter. ### Ingredients - 12 oz baby spinach, washed - 2 tbsp water - 1 pinch fine sea salt ### Instructions 1. Put the water in a wide saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the spinach in batches, turning with tongs as it collapses. 2. Cover briefly if needed, then uncover as soon as the leaves are bright green and just wilted, about 2–3 minutes. 3. Transfer to a colander and gently press out excess water without crushing the leaves. Season lightly and keep warm. ### Notes - Let the sauerkraut provide the acidity rather than adding another dressing to the spinach. ## Sauerkraut Cool, crunchy fermented cabbage provides the sharp contrast that the butter-rich lobster and eggs need. ### Ingredients - 1 cup plain gluten-free sauerkraut ### Instructions 1. Drain the sauerkraut lightly, leaving it moist but not dripping. Do not rinse unless it is unusually salty. 2. Keep cool until serving and divide into four small mounds. ## Overall Timing / Workflow Preparing the vegetables first leaves the final minutes free for the two components that suffer most from holding: lobster and soft eggs. ### Instructions 1. 0:00 — Check and portion the lobster, drain the sauerkraut, wash the spinach, and whisk the eggs. 2. 0:10 — Wilt and drain the spinach. Warm four shallow bowls. 3. 0:14 — Begin gently reheating the lobster in the drawn butter. 4. 0:16 — Start the eggs over low heat, adjusting the heat so they finish as the lobster reaches temperature. 5. 0:25–0:30 — Divide the spinach, eggs, lobster, and sauerkraut among the bowls and serve immediately. ## Plating Keeping the sauerkraut slightly separate preserves its crunch and lets each bite balance richness and acidity. ### Instructions 1. Lay the drained spinach across one side of each warm shallow bowl. 2. Spoon the soft eggs partly over the spinach, leaving some green leaves visible. 3. Distribute the lobster over the eggs and spoon about 1 teaspoon of the warm poaching butter over each portion. 4. Place the sauerkraut beside the eggs, partly over the exposed spinach, rather than mixing it into the scramble. ## Leftover Path Keeping the cold fermented cabbage separate protects its texture, while making only the eggs needed avoids a disappointing second reheating. ### Instructions 1. For the best result, scramble only as many eggs as will be eaten immediately and reheat only the needed portion of lobster. 2. Refrigerate any remaining cooked components within 2 hours in separate shallow containers. Keep the sauerkraut separate. 3. Use lobster within 3–4 days of its original cooking date; this breakfast does not restart that storage window. 4. If saving assembled portions, eat the next day and reheat the eggs, lobster, and spinach gently to 165°F, adding the sauerkraut afterward. Expect firmer eggs and lobster. --- From ChezJK (https://www.chezjk.com), Jonathan Katzman's public home-cooking archive: every meal he has photographed, written up as a recipe you can cook.