Lobster Bisque
Today I made one of my favorites for a special treat — classic lobster bisque.
I have a long list of restaurants I whose lobster bisques I adore, but for some reason I had never before tried making it at home. (Somehow lobster tails don’t seem to make it into my budget too often!) But my recent discovery of a bag of frozen chopped lobster meat from Trader Joe’s inspired me to give it a try. And I’m pretty sure now that this soup may make it into “the rotation” (as my friend Christin calls it) of favorites from now on.
Oh my heavens. This soup was wonderful.
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It was everything I love about lobster bisque — the warm spiced seafood broth, the thick puree of vegetables and lobster, and of course, the rich cream that pulls it all together. Although making it at home, I enjoyed being able to control the cream a bit more than I suspect they do at most restaurants. (You can adjust the amount of cream to your taste, or even substitute some half and half to make this a bit “lighter”.) Served with a side of rustic bread, this soup was everything I love about comfort food.
Mmmm, I already cannot wait to make this one again.
Lobster Bisque
A simple and delicious recipe for classic lobster bisque.
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1 cup chopped white or yellow onions
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 2 cups seafood stock
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup cognac or brandy (optional)
- 12 oz (or more) chopped lobster meat
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme)
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne
- 1/2 cup (or more) heavy cream
- salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Directions:
In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and tomato paste, and saute for 5 minutes or until the onions are cooked and translucent. Sprinkle the mixture with flour, and stir to be sure that it evenly coats the veggies. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the seafood stock, white wine, cognac, lobster meat, paprika, bay leaf, thyme and cayenne, and stir to combine. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from burning.
Remove the bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Stir in heavy cream, and season if needed with extra salt and pepper.
Then puree the soup using an immersion blender. Or you can transfer the soup in small batches into a traditional blender and blending until smooth. (Always be careful not to fill a blender too full with hot liquids.)
Serve immediately.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
Oooo, what a dreamy bowl of soup!! Wish I could dive right in. :)
Ugh, this makes me dream of fall. Soup making must soon be in my future. Let’s get this 100 degree day out of the way!
Do you mind me asking how much the bag of lobster meat was at Trader Joes?
There is one about 45 minutes away from me, and I would definitely love to attempt this recipe! I Just want to make sure its affordable before I make the trip =) Thanks!
The frozen lobster tail pieces at trader joes for a bag was 11.99. So good priced for a whole pot of lobster bisque!
Yes, yes and YES.
Perfect for the upcoming colder weather. I made lobster bisque once and was surprised at how easy it was!
I don’t think it’s ever too soon for soup…your bisque looks awesome! I have always wanted to try to make lobster bisque too!
How did you know that this is exactly what I want to eat right this minute!
Lobster Bisque is one of my favorites! This looks simply divine!
this will be on my to make list VERY soon because i can just see myself drinking bowl after bowl of this in the colder weather!
This looks so perfectly creamy and dreamy!! What a treat!
I’ve only had lobster bique once or twice before and I absolutely loved it, although it cost a bit too much for us. I can’t wait to recreate this at home and save hundreds and hundreds of dollars :)
Beautiful soup, it looks so thick and creamy!
So good! The more lobster, the better in my book :)
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made this today for mothers day, fantastic……..!
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What did you use for seafood stock? Homemade or store bought, and if bought, what kind?
Hi Karen,
I made my own using shrimp peels. Storebought stock can also be great though! Kitchen Basics makes a good one.
Thanks,
Ali
Do you think this would still be good without the white wine/ brandy? If I leave them out should I add more broth? I’ve never cooked with alcohol and have none in the house, and being preggo I have nothing else to use them for so I wouldn’t want them to go to waste!
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this was really lovely!! it’s the lightest bisque i’ve ever had. they are usually very thick and leave me feeling fat haha i added a can of crab meat and used a pound langostinos in place of the lobster. the brandy and white wine gave it a really nice flavor.
just an awesome soup!
Wonderful lobster bisque, i love to cook and especially create dishes. One of my specialties is pasta sauces. I am very willing to share my secret recipies. people want to buy them but id rather do a show….
Thanks for a superb lobstah bisque recipe!! I live in New England, and have been searching for an authentic and tasty bisque recipe for these chilly N.E. nights. The only change was that I used Better Than Bouillon’s lobster base because its what I have on hand, and omit the added salt. This is the 2nd time I’ve used this recipe, and the first time I found that after using the immersion blender, the lobster became grainy. This time, I blended, then added the lobster at the end. Perfect for my taste and texture! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe! The only down side is that now I have had many requests to make it for others. ;-)
For some reason mine came out incredibly spicy. My kids couldn’t even eat it.
Hi ,
I would like to try this recipe but want to know …
What brand of seafood stock do you use or where do you get it?
Also what type or name of white wine do you use?
Thank you,
Laurie
Hi Laurie,
I usually use Kitchen Basics or Trader Joe’s seafood stock. And all kinds of white wine — the drier, the better for this one.
~Ali
I am making the lobster bisque a second time in two weeks – it’s fantastic. Thanks.
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This blog was… how do I say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found somnething whichh helped me. Kudos!
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I made lobster stock last night. Grilled a lobster, saved the shell and just simmered it in water for 1.5 hours.
Made this bisque tonight and I am shocked at how yummy I can cook :) Mine came out rather thick, but tastes amazing. Didn’t have the cayenne or thyme and still super good. Thank you for this recipe!!
Wow, that stock sounds amazing Liz, and we’re so happy you enjoyed the bisque!
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This recipe doesn’t seem like it would serve 4-6. There will be exactly 4 people eating this tonight. For those who have made it-are the serving counts on this recipe accurate?
Hi Christina! If you’re concerned (and some people might want more), we’d recommend doing 1 1/2 times the recipe. We hope you and your guests enjoy!
I made this last night and my family just loved it. I made a few changes like cooking the lobster meat separately and adding it at the end to get pieces of meat since that is what my family asked. To make the stock I used your suggestion but instead of using shrimp tails I used the uncooked lobster tail shells which in my opinion worked quite well for “seafood” stock. Thank you for sharing your recipes. This is the second recipe my family tries from your site (sister tried your 5 ingredient easy chile) and both have been successful for us.
Thanks for sharing with us, Kely — we’re so happy you end your family enjoyed it!
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So so yummy! and quick! I didn’t have quite 12 oz of lobster but i supplemented with crab and it was perfect. Also added half a cup of corn for some more texture. Served with some rustic bread and it was a match made in heaven :)
Will make this again and again!
Sounds delicious!!
I am making this bisque for a pre-starter to my Christmas dinner. It reads as if its fairly simple. I did buy fresh lobster tails and did those myself. I prepared the tails from another recipe on another cooking site because it was a unique way to prepare the base for the soup. That recipe had me saute the
… I didn’t get to finish. That recipe had me saute the cleaned lobster shells in olive oil to release the flavor of the lobster. After tgat I followed this recipe to a t. It smells amazing!!
This is our Christmas Eve tradition for the past two years. Back another year to make the shopping list and hit TJs. Thank you!