Traditional Lobster Bisque

5 from 3 votes

This Traditional Lobster Bisque Recipe is perfect for special occasions. Classic lobster bisque recipe highlights fresh lobster meat, heavy cream, white wine, bay leaf, and aromatic vegetables to create a traditional lobster bisque you will crave repeatedly.

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Total Time1 5

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: French

Keyword: lobster bisque recipe

Servings: servings

Author: Elena Davis

Equipment

Ingredients

1 pound cold water lobster tails freshly thawed
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
2 medium carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon chopped, plus more for garnish
½ teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 bay leaves
4 cups lobster stock recipe as follows, OR seafood or fish stock (store-bought)
2 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup white wine or sherry wine

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Lobster Stock

Fill a large pot with 5 cups of water. Stir in 1 teaspoon of sea salt and bring to a boil.
Add the lobster tails and bay leaves, cover with a lid and let boil for 5 minutes or until bright red. Do not cook all the way. The lobster meat is cooked in butter at a later time.
Using kitchen tongs, remove the lobster tails, and save the stock in the pot. Let the lobster tails cool slightly, and remove the meat from the shells using kitchen shears (save the shells)*.
Reserve the meat and any liquid from the shells. Chop the lobster meat into large bite-sized chunks. Place in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until later.
Return the lobster shells to the water in the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15 minutes to get as much flavor out of the shells as possible.
Add stock contents to a colander (not a fine mesh sieve) over a large bowl. Pick out noticeable shells. Discard lobster shells. Set lobster stock aside.

Make the Bisque

Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy-based pot over medium heat. Cook the onions, carrots, celery, and fresh herbs until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and paprika. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in tomato paste, and cook for another minute to coat vegetables. Sprinkle vegetables with cornstarch and cook while occasionally stirring for 2 minutes.
Pour in the wine, simmer, and let reduce to about half. Stir in lobster stock, reduce heat and gently simmer while occasionally stirring until the liquid has thickened slightly and the flavors have blended for about 30 minutes.
Take off the heat, transfer the mixture to a blender or immersion blender, and blend until completely smooth. Return to medium-low heat and stir in the heavy cream.

Heat the Lobster

When ready to serve, melt 1 tablespoon of salted butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add lobster meat and season with freshly cracked salt and pepper. Cook while stirring, just until coated in butter and cooked through 1 to 2 minutes. Do not over cook lobster. Combine with the bisque and serve.

Notes

Use cold-water lobster. The taste is superior and worth it for this incredible crab bisque recipe.
Don’t overcook lobster. When par-boiling the lobster, cook the lobster just enough so it easily pries away from the shell – we are not trying to cook the lobster all the way through. The lobster is cooked later with butter.
Sauté in butter just until opaque. The goal of sautéing the lobster in butter is to infuse it with flavor. If the lobster cooks too much from the boiling process, toss it in the butter and gently warm but don’t continue to cook, or it will become rubbery and stiff.
Time-saving tip: the most time-consuming part is chopping the vegetables for the soffritto. You can chop them the day before and store them in the fridge, or even buy pre-diced onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.

Nutrition