Travis and Jason Kelce Shared a Controversial Food Opinion

Most of Jason and Travis Kelce’s hot takes are related to football — and I’ll trust them on that, I know nothing about sports — but in a recent excerpt from their popular podcast “New Heights,” the brothers are offering up a controversial take on something I am qualified to comment on: lobster.

The duo dares to say that the only reason people eat the crustacean is because they want a vehicle to consume butter. (More specifically, Jason proclaims that “If you like lobster you’re lying to yourself; you like butter.”) As a notoriously luxurious ingredient, often the kind of meal people dream about splurging on for an occasion, this is obviously an opinion that can rock the boat.

Commenters on Instagram and TikTok were quick to chime in with their thoughts, ranging from “Lobster is so good! Don’t ruin it with butter. East coaster here.” to “This is the first time Jason has said something I vehemently disagree with. Fighting words.”

I’m not afraid to admit that just because an ingredient or dish is expensive doesn’t mean it tastes great. (Pâté falls under this category.) But based on the Kelces’ justifications, it sounds like they probably haven’t had good lobster. 

Travis notes that “lobster tastes like absolutely nothing,” and Jason takes it a step further, saying the shellfish can “essentially be toast at that point. There’s no reason you’re eating that other than to get butter in your system.” Besides butter, the siblings call out Lawry’s, a seasoning salt blend that includes paprika, sugar, onion powder, and garlic powder, which Jason also declares people might as well eat on toast with butter, instead of on lobster.

If you’re feeling frustration boil up at this point, don’t worry, I did too. But in their defense, the Kelces aren’t known for refined palates — their mom Donna has described how they’d need to eat an entire chicken and gallons of milk for a single meal while growing up to maintain their caloric intake. And if you need to consume pure volume, lobster isn’t the most cost-effective or efficient way to do that.

What I wish Travis and Jason knew — especially now that they’re each worth tens of millions of dollars — is that the flavor of lobster is subtly sweet, a little briny, and meatier than other shellfish. If you’ve had this protein more than once, then you know how important it is to cook it properly. Just like a good steak, overcooked lobster will get tough and chewy. 

The quality of this crustacean is deeply important to its flavor — if lobster isn’t fresh, it may be slimy on the surface or have a fishier odor when raw. It will likely also be mushy once cooked, and if it has an ammonia-like smell at any point, then it was probably left out for too long before being refrigerated or frozen — and you shouldn’t eat it.

Butter and lobster do indeed go together. The sweet, tender meat and rich dairy are a classic pairing for a reason: Melted butter can improve the experience of eating an overcooked crustacean or be used to complement a roll full of the most perfectly cooked lobster meat. But when the two are paired together the right way, you should be able to taste both. The goal is to not singularly only detect notes of butter. 

The one thing I will agree with the Kelce brothers on is that crustaceans can be difficult to eat. Jason complains about how annoying it is to break open a crab or lobster, and it’s a fair point — you have to work hard to extract a few morsels of meat, and I don’t enjoy picking out pieces of shells when they break. But with a little practice, cracking a lobster can be quite easy, and if you’re at a restaurant, they’ll often do the work for you (unless you’re going to a seafood boil spot). 

Travis gives a shoutout to Red Lobster at the end of the video clip, and this might explain why he and his brother don’t quite appreciate this ingredient. The restaurant chain makes lobster more accessible across the country, but you won’t get the best possible version of the seafood there, and it’s more likely to be overcooked. Great lobster typically costs more, but it’s all worth the money and any extra effort involved once you taste how rich and sweet it can be. 

So if either of the Kelces are reading this — or if you fall under the same camp as them — I’d recommend booking a flight to the coast of Maine for next summer, locating the best seafood establishment near you, or finding a recipe you want to try, and giving lobster another chance.