Lobster Bisque
Creamy shellfish soup at home — Lobster Bisque, Seafood Bisque, Crab Bisque, and a lobster-crab-shrimp version — for nights you want dinner to feel special.
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Seafood Bisque
A rich and creamy seafood bisque made with shrimp and crab meat, seasoned with Old Bay and paprika.
Ingredients
- ½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½ lb lump crab meat
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups seafood or chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- to taste salt and black pepper
- optional fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- 1In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until softened and fragrant.
- 2Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes to create a roux.
- 3Gradually pour in the broth, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens. Add the heavy cream, Old Bay seasoning, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.
- 4Stir in the shrimp and crab meat. Let the bisque cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through.
- 5Garnish with fresh parsley if desired and serve warm with crusty bread.
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Open in Pepper →Bisque Is Easier Than It Looks
Bisque has a reputation for being restaurant food, but it's really just shellfish, butter, aromatics, and cream given a little time on the stove. Once you've made it one Sunday, you'll stop thinking of it as fancy.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when they want dinner to feel like an occasion — an anniversary at home, Christmas Eve, or a cold night when a bowl of soup and good bread is the whole meal.
Every recipe here is a shellfish bisque: Lobster Bisque made with fresh lobster tails, another built on Chardonnay and clam juice, a Seafood Bisque with shrimp and lump crab, a version with lobster, crab, and shrimp together, and a simple Crab Bisque.
Quick Tips
- 1
Save the shells
Simmer lobster or shrimp shells in water or clam juice for 20 to 30 minutes and use that stock as your base — it's where most of the flavor comes from.
- 2
Sweat the vegetables slowly
Cook the onion, celery, and shallot in butter over medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes until soft but not browned.
- 3
Add cream off the boil
Stir in the cream at the end over low heat and never let it boil, or it can separate and turn grainy.
- 4
Cook the shellfish last
Drop in the lobster or shrimp during the final 3 to 5 minutes; overcooked shellfish turns rubbery fast.
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