This easy homemade Lobster Bisque is a decadent and delicious soup recipe with plump, buttery chunks of lobster meat in a rich lobster broth.
This lobster bisque recipe is better than a restaurant recipe and it’s easy to make. This can be served as a main dish or a side dish.
What is a Bisque?
A bisque is a thick and creamy soup that is most often made with seafood like lobster, crab, shrimp, mussels, or clams. Bisque can also be made with vegetables like tomatoes, celery, or fennel.
This version has a tomato and cream base, and it’s seasoned with pureed vegetables that have been sautéed to bring out their savory flavors.
It differs from seafood chowder as it is smooth (and not chunky) with just lobster added as a garnish.
Homemade is Best
- Lobster is a special occasion food and bisque is an easy way to make a little bit of this pricey protein go a long way!
- This soup can be made with a whole lobster (or even from leftovers of a lobster meal) or just tails to keep it easy.
- The broth is flavored with lobster shells and this bisque is rich and smooth.
What’s in Lobster Bisque?
LOBSTER: Fresh or frozen lobster pieces can be used in this recipe (as long as it’s cooked first). You can either cook a whole lobster or just cook a couple of lobster tails.
Lobster tails can be broiled or boiled.
BROTH: I use chicken broth as the base of this bisque but you can also use seafood or vegetable broth. The broth is flavored with onion, lobster shells, a bit of tomato paste, and some heavy cream for a velvety flavor.
VEGETABLES: Onions, carrots, and celery (called a mirepoix in French cooking) provide great flavor to the base of this soup.
How to Make Lobster Bisque
Make this lovely and creamy lobster bisque! It’s totally worth the calorie splurge.
1. Prep Lobster Meat – Remove the cooked lobster meat from the shells and lightly brown the shells in a pot with butter and onion.
2. Simmer Broth with Shells – Add onion and broth and simmer (per the recipe below). Strain broth and set aside.
No Lobster Shells?! No Problem! Lobster shells flavor the broth but if you don’t have them, use a lobster broth or seafood broth in place of chicken broth.
3. Cook Vegetables – Sauté onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Add remaining broth ingredients and simmer.
4. Blend – Blend the vegetables with a hand mixer until the broth is smooth. This helps thicken the soup.
5. Add Cream and Lobster – Gently add in cream and lobster meat.
PRO TIP: With the hard shell facing up, cut the lobster tail from the top to the end of the tail. Split open the shell and remove the meat. Cut into desired pieces. Smaller is better.
Lobster Bisque Tips/Variations
This soup is perfect as written! You can definitely change it up based on what you have on hand or to make it even easier to make.
- Broth: While I prefer to make my own, you can purchase lobster broth or lobster base to make it easier.
- Lobster Meat: If you bring home your shells from a lobster dinner, you can use them to make the broth. If you need extra meat, you can simply add less meat or use frozen/canned lobster meat
- Sub in Shrimp: Shrimp is a great substitution in this recipe, you can add it in addition to the lobster, or you can add it in place of it if you don’t have any lobster meat.
- Season to taste: A pinch of curry, garden-fresh herbs, and a dash of hot sauce all make great additions.
Leftover Lobster Bisque
For best results, keep lobster bisque covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat on the stovetop and add a little extra cream if needed.
Lobster bisque can be frozen in quart-sized freezer bags with the date labeled on the outside for about 4 weeks. Thaw in the fridge and heat in a saucepan on low and whisk until the bisque is smooth.
Seafood Favorites
- Extra Creamy Lobster Mac and Cheese – decadent delight
- Cajun Shrimp Pasta – quick spicy dinner
- Creamy Seafood Chowder – hearty soup
- Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa – one word. YUM!
- Cheesy Hot Crab Dip – tasty appetizer
Did you enjoy this Lobster Bisque? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Easy Homemade Lobster Bisque
Ingredients
- ½ pound lobster meat cooked, with shells if possible
- ¼ cup butter divided
- ½ cup diced onion divided
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup diced carrot
- ½ cup diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup white wine
- ⅓ cup cooking sherry
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 dashes Tabasco sauce
- ¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 ounces tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups half and half or light cream
Instructions
- Remove the meat from the shells and set aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan. Add shells and ¼ cup onion and cook over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Add chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Strain, discard shells, and set the lobster broth aside.
- Melt remaining butter over medium heat. Add remaining onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until onion is softened. Add white wine and sherry and cook until almost evaporated. Add Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce and cook until almost evaporated.
- Stir in the lobster broth (from step 2), thyme, bay leaf, and tomato paste. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until thickened. Remove bay leaf and use an immersion blender to puree until smooth.
- Add in cream and simmer until thickened, about 3-5 minutes, stir in lobster meat, and serve immediately. Garnish with chives if desired.
Notes
- Broth: While I prefer to make my own (above), you can purchase lobster broth or lobster base to make it easier.
- Lobster: If you bring home your shells from a lobster dinner, you can use them to make the broth. If you need extra meat, you can simply add less meat or use frozen/canned lobster meat or add other favorite seafood to this recipe.
You can also use a whole cooked lobster or even just a couple of lobster tails. - Sub in Shrimp: Shrimp is a great substitution in this recipe, you can add it in addition to the lobster, or you can add it in place of it if you don't have any lobster meat.
- Season to taste: A pinch of curry, garden-fresh herbs, and a dash of hot sauce all make great additions.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Course, Party Food, Seafood, Soup
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This was delicious. I probably would have seasoned the lobster a bit.
This recipe is excellent in terms of time and flavor. Without changing any of the original ingredients, the soup came together quite nicely. My concern was whether it had a true ‘lobster bisque’ flavor, and it did not disappoint.
I feel like I’m just reading it wrong but when do you add any of the meat into the soup? ♀️
In step 5, after it simmers. Since the meat is already cooked, you want it just to heat through so it doesn’t overcook.
I followed the recipe exactly, and it’s a good lobster soup, but it didn’t have the thickness or creaminess I associate with lobster bisque.
Glad you enjoyed it, Amanda. For a creamier consistency, you can try using heavy cream instead of half and half.
This recipe is a mess, it says to half a half cup of carrots and celery then makes literally no mention of them at any time in the recipe
Hi David, we add the celery and carrots in step 3 with the remaining onion. Thanks for pointing that out!
This was delicious! We ended up with a couple of leftover lobster tails from our Red Lobster New Year’s Eve feast and this was the perfect way to use them up. I took quite a few liberties with the recipe based on ingredients we had on hand and it was still fantastic. Served with some leftover cheddar biscuits. Thanks for the inspiration :)
So glad you loved it Michelle!
Excellent recipe. My husbands loves lobster bisque and tries it at every restaurant that serves it. He said it was restaurant quality and practically licked the bowl clean. I did used vegetable broth instead of chicken, whipping cream instead of half and half and fresh thyme instead of dried thyme. Definitely will be making again soon. I also broiled the lobster tails just as suggested with meat thermometer. Perfect. Thank again❤️
Yay! So happy to hear that Carla!
I had a question about the last few steps, when you add back the other half of the onions do you leave them as chunks? It says to strain them out in the beginning and then as far as I can tell they’re left as is toward the end. I pureed them but I was wondering what the recipe intended.
This recipe was amazing! My favorite bisque recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jennie! Sorry for the confusion. The onion is finely diced and technically a bisque should be smooth so it should be pureed. I usually dice them quite finely and if it’s just the two of us, I sometimes leave it. I’ve updated the recipe with this information.
I thought that the cayenne would be subdued by the cream and I was wrong.
Also feel like there was too much chicken broth. I added a lot more cream to take the burn down and balance it out.
The tomatoes and onion also overwhelm.
Hi. At what step is the lobster stock added back in?
Apologies for the confusion, it is added in step 4.
When do you put in the chicken broth mixture again? Sorry I’m just reading this and I’m a little confused on that part.
Chicken broth is added in step 2.
Ok but you say strain and set aside, when do you add that back in
Apologies for the confusion, it is added in step 4.
Making this for the 2nd time as it was a great hit the first time! Used real sherry and it was perfect. A perfect soup for lobster lovers.
I’m so glad you loved it Diane!
Your recipes look delicious. Thank you for letting me try them.
Thank you Terri! I hope you find many to try!
I am confused about step 6. I followed steps 1 through 5 which ends with serve immediately. Then Step 6 starts it all over from the beginning again all in step 6 that also ends with Serve immediately. Is step 6 an optional way of doing the whole recipe all in the one step…… Or am I missing something?
I apologize for the confusion, steps 1 through 5 were correct. I’ve updated the recipe.
can you pls review and edit? you say 1/4 cup butter divided but then say 1/4 cup to sauté onions. also is it 1/3 cup sherry or 1 1/3 cup sherry?
thanks!
Our apologies, we have updated the recipe.
looks so yummy.. will be great this winter!!
MMMMmmm! Looks fantastic. I love bisque, I always thought it would be more complicated to make. On my “Must try” list for sure!