Masala Herb

Flavorful Recipes

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • TRAVEL
  • Contact
  • New? Start HERE!
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • RECIPES
  • Contact
  • New? Start Here!
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    You are Here: Masala Herb » Recipes » Seafood

    Lobster Bisque Recipe

    February 15, 2021 by Helene Dsouza 1 Comment

    1.8K shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Flip
    • Email
    • Share
    • Threads
    • Bluesky
    Helene Dsouza
    A high comfort level, soulfood soup with lobster chunks.
    Total Time: 2 hours hours
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    4 servings
    RECIPE
    lobster bisque in a bowl
    close up of lobster in bisque soup
    creamy intense lobster bisque in a spoon

    A lobster bisque is a soul food dish, a deeply flavored tomato-based thickened soup, enriched with lobster chunks.

    Prepare this soup from scratch. The boiling instructions for a whole fresh lobster will be posted another day.

    lobster pieces in bisque
    Recipes from around the world E-Book

    Global Food Recipes

    with Spices and Herbs

    Free E-Book available for a limited time. Grab yours now and get instantly inspired!

    00
    Days
    :
     
    00
    Hours
    :
     
    19
    Minutes
    :
     
    59
    Seconds

    You missed out!

    Recipes from around the world E-Book

    Your Free E-Book 

    was sent to your

    E-Mail Address!

    Please check your Spam folder

    Jump to:
    • What is a lobster bisque?
    • Ingredient Notes
    • Process Overview
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Serving
    • Storing
    • FAQs
    • More Recipes with Wine or Seafood
    • 💬 Comments

    What is a lobster bisque?

    A bisque is a creamy-thickened, deep flavored soup that originated in France.

    However, the dish is more popular in Canada and the US.

    It's usually prepared with lobster, but it can also be made with crab, Langoustine, shrimp, crayfish, calamari, or clams.

    A classic lobster bisque is thickened with lobster shells, crushed and turned into a paste, and with rice (yep rice!).

    I think the best, easiest, and most delicious way to thicken a bisque is by making a Roux with all-purpose flour or cornstarch. This soup is also thickened with cream.

    lobster chunks in bisque

    Ingredient Notes

    Here is an overview of the ingredients and a set of quick instructions.

    The complete recipe with US and metric measurements is located at the bottom of the post in the printable recipe card.

    • Lobster Meat — I boil a whole fresh lobster, use the meat in this bisque and prepare a stock with the shells (instructions for that will be posted separately). You can use fresh or frozen lobster meat. I used a warm water lobster in the images.
    • Lobster Stock or Seafood Stock
    • Butter — unsalted.
    • Onion and Garlic
    • Celery Stalks and Carrot — fresh.
    • All-purpose flour or Cornstarch — Either one is fine and used to thicken the soup. I prefer all-purpose.
    • White wine — or Sherry or Cognac can be used as well for a different flavor profile.
    • Tomato Sauce
    • Seasoning — bay leaf, salt, black pepper, paprika, thyme
    • Table cream — or Heavy Cream or Half-and-Half, which ever you get. In Europe, I'd get fresh French Cream (Crème Fraîche)

    If you want to make this without wine etc., I recommend you add stock of the same quantity instead.

    To make it gluten-free, switch the flour in the recipe with rice or cassava flour.

    You can also opt for a lactose-free bisque by switching the butter with olive oil and the cream with coconut cream.

    Process Overview

    Step 1

    Keep cooked lobster meat ready and cut into chunks. Keep the stock at the side.

    Prepare and cut your vegetables. Cook vegetables in butter.

    cut vegetables for bisque and sweat them in butter

    Step 2

    Stir in flour and deglaze with wine.

    Pour in tomato sauce, broth and season with spices. Mix and cook your bisque.

    deglaze with wine and season bisque

    Step 3

    Blend soup and mix in cream.

    Cook down and simmer further, add the cooked lobster chunk at the end before serving hot.

    blend bisque and add lobster chunks

    📖 Recipe

    lobster bisque in a bowl

    Lobster Bisque Recipe

    A high comfort level, soulfood soup with lobster chunks.
    4.80 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: American, French
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 2 hours hours
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 215kcal
    Recipe by: Helene Dsouza

    Ingredients

    • 1 Medium Lobster whole, *see Notes for tails
    • 29 Ounces Lobster stock or seafood stock, *see Notes
    • 1 Onion diced
    • 1-2 Piece Garlic Clove chopped
    • 2 Stalks Celeriac sliced
    • 2 Tablespoon Butter
    • 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour or cornflour
    • ¾ Cup White Wine or sherry or cognac
    • 1 Cup Tomato Sauce plain
    • 1 Small Carrot sliced
    • 1 Small Bay Leaf
    • ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 Teaspoon Paprika
    • 1 Teaspoon Thyme
    • ¼ Cup Half-and-Half *see Notes to thicken more
    US - Metric

    Instructions

    • Boil or keep cooked lobster ready, cut into chunks. Also, prepare or keep store-bought stock ready.
    • Prepare and cut fresh vegetables: dice onion, chop garlic, slice celery stalks and dice carrot.
    • Heat up a deep cooking vessel and melt the butter. Stir in and sautee onion soft over a medium heat setting.
    • Stir in garlic and saute briefly. Then add the cut celery and carrot. Sweat over a medium heat setting for a minute or two.
    • Reduce the heat a bit and stir in all-purpose flour. Stir cook until the flour is not visible anymore.
    • Deglaze your pan with wine, reduce the heat to a minimum. Stir in tomato sauce and stock.
    • Increase heat to medium and season your bisque with bay leaf, black pepper, salt, paprika, and thyme. Mix it all in.
    • Cover your pot and cook over a medium to low heat setting. Cook for about 30-40 minutes or so.
    • Take out bay leaf and discard.
    • Blend soup with a hand blender and keep over a low heat setting.
    • Pour and mix in cream or half and half.
    • Simmer soup further down to desired thickness and consistency.
    • Add cooked and cut lobster meat to the soup.
    • Serve lobster bisque hot with a topping of your choice. That can be parsley or other greens and/or paprika.

    Notes

    • Use the meat from one whole medium to large-sized lobster or use 2 lobster tails.
    • 29 ounces make 2 cans of lobster or seafood stock.
    • To deglaze means to pour wine to the pan
    • To thicken your soup further, use heavy cream instead of half and half in this recipe.
    • garnish with greens such as parsley and or a sprinkle of paprika

    Equipment

    • Large Pot (min 8 qt)

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Lobster Bisque Recipe
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 215 Calories from Fat 81
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 9g14%
    Saturated Fat 5g25%
    Trans Fat 1g
    Cholesterol 61mg20%
    Sodium 1315mg55%
    Potassium 684mg20%
    Carbohydrates 13g4%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 5g6%
    Protein 12g24%
    Vitamin A 2956IU59%
    Vitamin C 9mg11%
    Calcium 154mg15%
    Iron 2mg11%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Serving

    Lobster bisque can be topped with some greens. You can choose to top your bisque with fresh parsley or chives.

    I simply use chopped fresh celery leaves or even carrot greens (carrot leaves are edible and related to parsley) because that's what I have leftover after using celery stalks and carrots in the soup.

    Your lobster bisque will be a real treat with some freshly baked still warm bread or flatbread.

    Croutons as a topping also add insanely wonderful texture to the whole dinner experience.

    I like a simple green salad with vinaigrette with my bisque or small pink raw radish (adds sharpness).

    top down view of lobster bisque in a bowl and spoon

    Storing

    Keep leftovers in an airtight fridge-friendly container in your fridge for up to 2–3 days.

    Warm-up again over the stove top in a smaller cooking vessel, or place bisque into a microwave-friendly container and reheat in the microwave until hot enough.

    You can freeze your bisque too. Prepare batches of your soup in freezer-friendly containers and keep them in the fridge for up to 1–2 months.

    Reheat frozen bisque over the stove top until hot. This soup makes a great meal prep dinner meal.

    FAQs

    How do I make my bisque thicker?

    Add 1 tablespoon more of the flour and or increase the cream quantity. But I think the thickness is great as it is in the base recipe. You can make it thicker too by simply cooking down the soup further. Cooking it over a slow flame over a longer period of time will result in a thicker bisque too.

    How to use frozen lobster in this bisque?

    Make sure the frozen lobster is cut into chunks and then just add the frozen meat into the soup. Cook the soup over a slow heat setting so that the lobster gets to heat up gradually. If you use frozen lobster tails, you will need them to thaw first by placing them in the fridge overnight.

    More Recipes with Wine or Seafood

    • Cullen Skink — Scottish fish soup
    • Salmon White Wine Pasta
    • Shrimp Fra Diavolo Pasta Sauce
    lobster bisque pin image
    1.8K shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Flip
    • Email
    • Share
    • Threads
    • Bluesky

    I am Helene, and I created Masala Herb in 2011. Here you will learn to cook with spices and herbs. I share from scratch, international food recipes and my mission is to teach you to cook flavorful food at home. Read More…

    MasalaHerb.com as seen on

    Comments

      4.80 from 5 votes (4 ratings without comment)

      Leave a Comment Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Sherry Rudell says

      December 29, 2021 at 9:12 am

      5 stars
      Delicious
      Add some chili 🌶 sauce if you like heat.

      Reply

    Welcome

    Hi there! I'm Helene and here you will learn how to cook with spices and herbs. Discover global food and learn to season your food like a pro. Read more about my work and mission or head over to my food ingredient space, Unknownbite.com, and our travel space, Paulmarina.com!

    More About Me ->








    Home
    About
    As seen in
    Contact
    Terms and Conditions
    Privacy Policy

    By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies.

    Masala Herb is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

    Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.