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
Grilled Lobster Tails with Garlic Butter
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 thyme chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon chopped, plus more to serve
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or plain flour
- 1 ¼ cup dry white wine or sherry
- 4 cups lobster stock or seafood or fish stock
- ¾ - 1 cup heavy cream
GARLIC BUTTER LOBSTER MEAT
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 1 pinch 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 ¾ 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.
TO 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.Nutrition
Ashley says
Fabulous! I cook all the time and this is one of the best things I’ve ever made! Wanted to provide some info to help others feel more at ease making it. My store did not have bouillon powder so I substituted 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon chicken base. I don’t use black pepper in anything I cook so I didn’t put it in this bisque. Followed everything else exactly. My lobster tails (four tails) weighed 1.35 pounds total. Next time, I’ll try to find a large lobster tail to make the process go faster with removing it from the shell. I used fresh tarragon and thyme, but I’ll use dried tarragon next time. It doesn’t taste any different to me fresh vs dried. I will use fresh thyme, though, because it tastes better fresh, in my opinion. I used Sequoia Grove Chardonnay for this recipe. I strongly suggest using a Chardonnay of equal quality as opposed to a Sauvignon blanc or Pinot Grigio. The bisque was perfect! Next time, I will increase the flour by 50% to make it just a bit thicker.
Libby says
My husband made this recipe over a year ago when he was catering an event and needed a second use for lobster tails to go with surf and turf. He brought me the leftover bisque and I’ve been wanting him to make this again ever since I tasted it.
He made it this week for my birthday and it was even better than I remembered. Now I can’t get it out of my head!
Unfortunately lobster is out of my price range for a weeknight supper, so today I bought some affordable shell-on shrimp and frozen seafood mix, and I’m going to follow the recipe but use the shrimp shells for the fish stock, and cook the seafood mix in garlic butter to add to the bisque after I puree it. I am so excited to try it that way. Thank you for this excellent recipe!
Angela Harris says
This dish elevates any family gathering! We opted for a non-traditional Thanks giving meal and assigned my 12 year old to make this 1st course. It was a long process so I acted as her sous chef to prep the lobsters. Also you’ll have to take your time pureeing the mixture to ensure a smooth consistency. We used 1.5 onions instead of two because ours were very large. Next time I think we”ll use coconut cream to make it non dairy. Also, I thought the wine was a bit much upon 1st taste but my daughter taught me the power of patience and letting the alcohol reduce properly. It was excellent! The portion /ingredient conversions were excellent. This recipe is great!
Karina says
Hi Angela, I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that the dish elevated your non-traditional Thanksgiving meal and that your 12-year-old took the lead in preparing it! It sounds like a wonderful family collaboration. Your thoughtful adjustments and the idea of using coconut cream for a non-dairy version are fantastic. I’m also glad your daughter’s patience paid off with the wine reduction. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I’m delighted the recipe was a great success for your family gathering.
Christine says
Wow your 12-year-old was assigned to make the 1st course, I love it great ideal for my grandchildren.
Babs says
This was an amazing recipe! I have never made lobster bisque before but it is one of my all time favorite soups! This morning my husband asked me to make “lobster bisque “ so I was looking for a recipe that looked delicious and was easy… when I found the instructions for the quick lobster stock I thought lets try it! It did take me more time then was stated, but I wasn’t worried. I wanted to combine the flavors and bring it all together … and boy did it! I will make this again! Next time I will cut the recipe in half cuz it’s more than we can eat in one sitting. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
Patricia says
This recipe is absolutely AMAZING!!! I added a little bit of sugar. I also used only 2 lobster tails but added a can of crab meat. It turned out just like the high end restaurants. I’ll definitely be making this again… and again. Thank you!
Alicia Joos says
This was crazy good and my whole family loved it. I omitted the Cayenne cooking for little kids, although they ended up loving the modified recipe. I used Bristol cream, full-bodied Sherry. Immersion blender was not powerful enough to grind it to a very silky, smooth consistency, so I had to put it in the Vitamix, but it was well worth it.
Suzie Coe says
How big should the lobster tails be? In ounces? That makes all the difference as where I live you can get them all sizes.
Bonnie says
This was fabulous! I served this for Christmas Eve dinner and everyone raved about it. Thank you for a great recipe!
Millie says
Hi karina,
Could I make this the day before or at least the stock
Ty☺️
Millie
Betty says
I use Hondashi Japanese fish stock