Lobster Bisque recipe made easy with big chunks of garlic butter lobster tails in every bite and a quick homemade stock!
Smooth and creamy, our Lobster Bisque is always a crowd pleaser and has never been easier! Using lobster tails guarantees a rich and decadent bisque that cooks in under one hour.
Enjoy as a starter or a main, you’ll love the flavours in this so much you’ll be licking the bowl clean!
LOBSTER BISQUE
Traditionally, lobster bisque is made with a stock made of whole lobster shells. Our version is much easier and just as robust, with a simple stock, aromatics, spices and simple ingredients!
HOW TO MAKE LOBSTER BISQUE
The secret is to build those flavours slowly, starting with a homemade lobster stock.
BOIL lobster tails — shells and meat — in salted water for only 5 minutes. This way, we pre-cook the meat and get as much lobster flavours as we can.
COOL SLIGHTLY AND REMOVE meat out of the shells using either of the two methods below:
- Place lobster tail on your counter with the back facing up. Using sharp kitchen shears, cut down through the centre of the back to the end of the tail. With your thumbs and fingers, open the shell to loosen it from the meat, opening the meat away from the shell side walls. Pull the meat up from the bottom of the shell to seperate the shell from the meat underneath it.
- Alternatively, use both hands to press down on tail to crack shell. Hold tail, shell facing down, and pull back on both sides of shell to crack open and remove meat.
CHOP into bite-sized pieces and refrigerate while boiling the empty shells for a further 15 minutes. Keep that stock to add into the bisque later.
WHAT IS LOBSTER BISQUE MADE OF?
Once you have your quick stock, start making the base for the soup with a beautiful mirepoix — onion, carrot, and celery.
You’ll see a mirepoix in most of our recipes, like Chicken Noodle Soup, Homemade Sausage Rolls and Creamy Ham Potato Soup, for maximum flavour benefits.
Sauté with fresh herbs in a blend of oil and butter to sweat and release their flavours before adding garlic, cayenne pepper (for an optional bit of heat) and the rest of your ingredients.
HOW DO YOU THICKEN LOBSTER BISQUE?
Tomato paste and hint of flour help to thicken your soup. Cook the flour for a couple of minutes first before adding liquids.
WHAT ALCOHOL IS IN LOBSTER BISQUE?
The pot gets deglazed with a dry white wine. Use a good quality Pinot Grigio, Sauv Blanc or Chardonnay, one that you would drink! If you can’t drink it, you shouldn’t cook with it.
You can replace the wine with sherry if you prefer! Sherry is a fortified wine that adds a delicious, savoury kick to your soup, similar to our Creamy Chicken Marsala.
Let reduce to half, then stir in your pre-made lobster stock and let simmer until liquid has thickened. It only takes about 30 minutes to get those delicious flavours to marry into each other.
BLEND
Puree right in the pot with an immersion blender OR pour into a blender. If using a blender, you may need to blend in batches of two or three to prevent pressure from building up inside the jug from the heat. Make sure you take the centre piece out of the lid to let the steam escape.
You want your bisque to be nice and smooth. Then, pour it back into your pot, stir in the heavy cream and chunks of lobster. Garnish with fresh tarragon, chives or sliced green onions.
LOBSTER MEAT
To add even more flavour, melt butter a skillet over medium heat and sauté garlic until fragrant. Add in chopped lobster meat, season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Lightly sauté until lobster meat is just warmed through, then add into your bisque!
LOBSTER BISQUE OPTIONS
You can change up our lobster bisque recipe based on what you already have on hand:
- BROTH: Use a low-sodium lobster broth or seafood broth/stock.
- LOBSTER MEAT: Frozen or canned lobster meat can be used BUT fresh is best. I cannot guarantee the flavour in your bisque will turn out the same.
- CLAMS OR SHRIMP: Both options are a great substitution for this recipe.
Serve with crusty bread for an epic meal!
HOW LONG DOES LOBSTER BISQUE LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
Refrigerate soup in airtight containers for up to 2 days only! You don’t want to keep your lobster bisque refrigerated very long, as with most seafood.
Reheat on low-medium heat.
CAN YOU FREEZE HOMEMADE BISQUE?
We don’t recommend freezing lobster bisque.
MORE LOBSTER RECIPES
Lobster Tails with Bacon Cream Sauce
Butter Seared Lobster Tails
Broiled Lobster Tails
Lobster Bisque
Ingredients
BISQUE
- 4 lobster tails
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped tarragon, plus more to serve
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, (or plain flour)
- 1 1/4 cup dry white wine, or sherry
- 4 cups lobster stock (recipe as follows), OR seafood or fish stock
- 3/4 - 1 cup heavy cream
GARLIC BUTTER LOBSTER MEAT
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt, pepper and cayenne, to taste
Instructions
LOBSTER STOCK
- Fill a large pot with 5 cups of water. Stir in 1 teaspoon sea salt and bring to a boil.
- Add the lobster tails, cover with lid and let boil for 5 minutes, or until bright red.
- Remove lobster tails, reserving the liquid stock. When the lobsters have cooled slightly, remove the meat from the shells, reserving the meat and any liquid that comes out of the shells.
- Return lobster shells back to the water in the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for a further 15 minutes to draw as much flavour out of the shells as possible.
- While stock is simmering, chop the meat into bite-sized pieces and refrigerate.
BISQUE
- Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy-based pot over medium heat, Sweat the onions, carrots, celery and fresh herbs. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with the bouillon powder, salt and pepper/s. Stir in 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Mix in tomato paste, cook for a further minute to coat vegetables. Sprinkle over flour and cook, while stirring occasionally for a further 2 minutes.
- Pour in wine, simmer and let reduce to half. Stir in lobster stock, reduce heat and gently simmer while stirring occasionally, until liquid has thickened slightly and flavours have blended, about 30 minutes.
- Take off the heat, transfer mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, purée with an immersion blender until very smooth. Return to medium-low heat and stir in heavy cream.
GARLIC BUTTER LOBSTER MEAT
- Melt butter a skillet pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add in chopped lobster meat, season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Lightly sauté for 1 minute while stirring occasionally, until lobster meat is just warmed through.
TO SERVE LOBSTER BISQUE
- Mix 3/4 of the lobster meat into the bisque. Pour into individual serving bowls. Top each bowl with remaining lobster meat and extra tarragon.
Notes
TO REMOVE LOBSTER MEAT:
- Place lobster tail on your counter with the back of the tail facing up. Use sharp kitchen shears to cut down through the centre to the end of the tail. With your thumbs and fingers, open the shell to loosen it from the meat, opening the meat away from the shell side walls. Pull the meat up from the bottom of the shell to seperate the shell from the meat underneath it.
- Alternatively, use both hands to press down on tail to crack shell. Hold tail, shell facing down, and pull back on both sides of shell to crack open and remove meat.
Joyce says
I made this on Christmas Eve. My hubby and I thought it was the best lobster bisque we have ever had. Thank you for this recipe!
Angela Stoll says
Made this for Christmas Eve. Delicious!!!
Jen says
Just made this for Christmas Eve/Seven Fishes and it was amazing!
Absolutely delicious. A tip to get more flavor is to broil the lobster tails and then use the shells in the broth.
Thanks for such a great recipe!
Judy says
Thanks I ambso excited to try this recipe for our family on Christmas Eve. I needed to know the servings because I need to feed 10 people. Could I double the recipe?
CindiO says
Maybe I’m a bit slow, but it took me a long time to make this. However, it was definitely worth it. Everyone loved it. Next time I will leave the cayenne pepper out. It was too strong. Also, I’ll keep the stock covered the entire time as I only ended up with 3 cups instead of 4 (I added an additional cup of chicken broth because that’as all I had). This is the first time I made lobster bisque and I’m so happy how it turned out.
Karina says
I’m so glad Cindi! Thank you sharing your feedback 🥰
Deb B. says
Made this for dinner and it turned out excellent. To save a few steps, I used canned frozen chopped lobster and made the stock using “better than bouillon” lobster base. I would suggest adding the cream sparingly, as I used only a half a cup and think any more would have diluted the flavours of the soup.
Shenae says
Wow! I made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing! So tasty. My hubby and I really enjoyed it. Thankyou!
Debra Hoch says
This soup is delicious! The best I think I have ever had. Simple and amazing! Can’t wait to make it again! I love how each step was explained.
Jacqueline vaughn says
OMG! I loved this recipe. Thank you for the simplicity. It turned out GREAT!! I didn’t use the bouillon powder. I used a pilot grigio. Thank you Thank you!
Sherry says
I have Celiac Disease and a sensitivity to dairy (I know, what a life!!) but I made this with GF Flour and cornstarch. Instead of cream, cashew milk. AMAZING!!! Perfect in every way. I live in Panama and the fish market has fresh lobster every day (I know, what a life!!!). 4 tails were $10 so this was not only delicious but super tasty. Also included some leeks because the DH loves them. Just a great recipe that I’ll be using all the time.
Sherry says
Sorry, meant to say it was economical!! For the butter I used casein free Ghee – very buttery. We had it as a main (3 bowls each!).
Kimberly Freeland says
I made this recipe a few months ago and it was too spicy for me and my husband. I recently went to Put n Bay and had their lobster bisque. I was inspired to make your recipe again. I just made it today and I followed your recipe again except instead of using black and cayenne pepper I replaced it with 2tsp of old bay seasoning. It turned out great. Also used better than bullion instead of bouillon powder.
Sydney says
(2020July I had 5 or 6 lobster heads and legs no tails or claws. Just smashed them a bit and cooked at 10 lbs pressure for about 10 minutes( … just because I could) Turned out just fine. Kitchen didn’t smell too great but the soup was YUMMY!! Will definitely make again.
Kevin Baxter says
I am using some home made fish stock.
Save all your prawn, crab and lobster shells in the freezer with all your carrot and onion cut offs and when it starts taking up to much space take it all out and make a stock.
Kelly says
Hi Karina,
Could you make the stock the day before and then re-heat and add the lobster meat prior to serving? Thx!
Kevin Baxter says
Sorry Kelly just noticed your question now. I make decent sized batch’s of stalk and freeze for whenever it is needed. Keeping a leftover bag of all meat and veggie leftovers that go good in stock makes it so I never have to by my broths or stocks store bought. Also I never have to add much consumable meats and veggies to my broth because I have all my scraps. All tastes the same in the end but better and more to my personal taste than store bought.
Jessica says
This is fantastic! So worth the price of lobster. I made some garlic croutons to go with it and I did a mixture of crab and prawns. Sooooo good!
shanzeh says
Is there a non-alcoholic substitute I can use other than sherry?
Joel says
If there is concern about consuming alcohol, all of the alcohol is cooked away during the process and only the flavor remains.
Trish says
your recipe calls for 4 lobster tails, about how many ounces would each one be? Thanks! Can’t wait to make it!
Chris says
Looks divine! Might you be able to suggest a substitute for the chicken bouillon powder? Thanks and always enjoy your creativity ?
Chelsea Strachan says
I have the same question! What’s a substitute for boullion powder?
Lori L Stowell says
I see a lot of questions about the chicken bouillon, I just used one bullion cubes instead.
Connor says
Used better than bouillon garlic base would like to try it using a lobster base I know minors makes one it is just hard to find at retail locations
Sabrina says
Yes yes yes! Just made it and my boyfriend went back for the rest of the pot! I love you. You make me look like a fancy chef. I have your Drunken Strawberries soaking in wine now. Can’t wait for dessert!
Karina says
I’m so so glad Sabrina! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback. Hope you both enjoy those strawberries!
Danny says
Is blending necessary cuz I don’t have one?
Kathy says
I made this as soon as I got it in my inbox and holy hell its so good. My husband and I licked the bowl clean as you said we would and we’ve never felt the need to do that. If anyone is doubtful TRY THIS BISQUE. You don’t regret it!
Janet Bradley says
I have frozen shrimp in the freezer, could I substitute shrimp for the lobster this time????
Karina says
Absolutely!
Cathy McDermott says
Hi Karina, Do you include the shells when blending? Or take them out? I love lobster bisque and would love to make this. It sounds so good! Thank you.
Karina says
Hi Cathy, I take them out as I found during testing that it didn’t really alter the taste overall. Boiling them for so long really brought out their flavour. You can definitely leave them in though and blend them together with the rest of the soup. Traditionally that’s how a bisque is made. I hope you like it either way!