Maine Lobster Bisque

This creamy, super-flavorful, and perfectly-calibrated Maine lobster bisque gets rave reviews. Don’t miss it.

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Why we love this recipe

I’ve loved lobster bisque since early childhood. This means: (1) I’ve had the chance to taste many versions over the years, make it my own, and perfect all the elements for you. (2) I probably should have known to skip law school and just get straight to a culinary career? But that’s a topic for another day.

This Maine lobster bisque recipe has:

• Deep, rich, layered lobster flavor throughout
• Generous chunks of gorgeous lobster meat
• The perfect balance of seasonings that enhance the lobster without overwhelming it
• Just the right texture — beautifully silky, not too thick, not too thin

What you’ll need

Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.

• Lobster bisque is incredibly delicious when made with homemade lobster stock, and I really recommend using it. If that’s not in the cards for you this time around, you can use lower-salt commercial shrimp or seafood stock.
• You’ll dice the onions, carrot, and celery nice and small and cook them in the butter until everything is tender and a bit browned. Don’t shy away from the browning, which adds tons of flavor.
• Use a dry white wine that you’d be happy to drink (and serve the rest of the bottle at the table!)
• A bit of heavy cream rounds out and gently amplifies the flavors while contributing to a creamy texture. 
• To keep things simple, good old all-purpose flour helps thicken up the soup. For the record, strictly traditional bisque recipes use a paste made of ground lobster shells, and sometimes rice, as thickeners — I don’t put you through that here. To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute your favorite 1:1 GF baking blend or all-purpose GF blend, whichever you have on hand.
• There are so many ways to arrive at a pound of cooked lobster meat that I’ve dedicated a whole section to it below. You may be familiar with bisque having only a bit of lobster as a garnish, but I like to be generous and stir quite a bit of it into the soup. You can reserve the most beautiful pieces to garnish.

Sourcing lobster meat for bisque

You’ve got plenty of options for sourcing a pound of cooked lobster meat, and over the years I’ve partaken of them all.

You can:

• Start with live lobsters. Here’s everything you need to know, and more. On average, one pound of live lobster will yield about 3 ½ ounces of meat — but summer soft-shells will yield significantly less. In this case, you can also use the shells to make lobster stock.
• Buy picked lobster meat at your local fish market. From time to time I’ll go to one of my local markets and buy a gorgeous two-pound bag of flash-frozen claw and knuckle meat, then defrost it on a rimmed half sheet pan at room temperature for an hour. (Contact with metal accelerates defrosting — it’s science, but it’s also magic.) Something weird about our economy is that I often won’t pay more for this beautifully cooked, painstakingly shelled meat than I would have paid for its raw equivalent.
• Honestly, one of my favorite times to make lobster bisque is with leftovers in the days following a big feast. In this case, you can also use the shells to make lobster stock.
• Or hey, go in the opposite direction and start with tails (or other parts) and cook them sous-vide.

How to make it

Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a fabulous pot of Maine lobster bisque. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.

1. First you’ll cook the onion, carrot, and celery in the butter, then layer in the garlic, flour, and tomato paste.
2. Pour in the wine and use it to scrape up any browned bits. Add the lobster stock and herbs, bring to a boil, and simmer.
3. Add the cream and seasonings and simmer, then blend until beautifully smooth.
4. Stir in the lobster, ladle into bowls, and garnish with chives. That’s it!

Expert tips and FAQs

More favorite elegant lobster recipes

• Lobster Benedict
• Lobster Risotto
• Butter-poached lobster tails

5 from 3 votes

Maine Lobster Bisque

By Carolyn Gratzer Cope

This creamy, super-flavorful, and perfectly-calibrated Maine lobster bisque gets rave reviews. Don't miss it.

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• ▢ 2 medium carrots, diced small
• ▢ 2 celery ribs, diced small
• ▢ 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ▢ 6 tablespoons (46 grams) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (32 grams) tomato paste
• ▢ 1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
• ▢ 5 cups 1(180 ml) lobster stock
• ▢ 1 medium sprig fresh tarragon
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt if using unsalted stock, or season to taste
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne
• ▢ 1 pound (454 grams) diced cooked lobster meat
• ▢ 2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

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Instructions 

• In a 5-quart pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
• Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until softened and well-browned in spots. Don't rush this step — the browning adds lots of good flavor to the soup.
• Add the garlic, give it a stir, and cook for a minute.
• Sprinkle in the flour, stir to coat the vegetables, and cook for a minute more.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for one additional minute.
• Pour in the wine and give it an aggressive stir, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. The mixture will start to thicken immediately. Simmer briskly for one minute.
• Pour in the lobster stock. Add the tarragon sprig and the bay leaf and give it a stir.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the heavy cream, salt (if using), pepper, and cayenne, and simmer five minutes more.
• Remove tarragon sprig and bay leaf. Carefully transfer the entire remaining contents of the pot to a blender and puree until perfectly smooth. I love my Vitamix for creating beautifully silky results, but a regular blender is just fine. Alternatively, use an immersion blender.
• Wipe out the pot and pour the pureed soup back in.
• Stir in the lobster meat and taste for seasoning.
• Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with snipped chives.

Notes

1. To keep things simple, good old all-purpose flour helps thicken up the soup. For the record, strictly traditional bisque recipes use a paste made of ground lobster shells, and sometimes rice, as thickeners — I don't put you through that here. To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute your favorite 1:1 GF baking blend or all-purpose GF blend, whichever you have on hand.
2. Use a dry white wine that you'd be happy to drink (and serve the rest of the bottle at the table!)
3. Lobster bisque is incredibly delicious when made with homemade lobster stock, and I really recommend using it. If that's not in the cards for you this time around, you can use lower-salt commercial shrimp or seafood stock.
4. There are so many ways to arrive at a pound of cooked lobster meat that I've dedicated a whole section to it below. You may be familiar with bisque having only a bit of lobster as a garnish, but I like to be generous and stir quite a bit of it into the soup. You can reserve the most beautiful pieces to garnish.
5. Maine lobster bisque will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, and it holds up well to gentle reheating on the stovetop or in the microwave. I don't recommend freezing it. 
6. If you're making it in advance on purpose (as opposed to just dealing with leftovers), I'd recommend adding the lobster meat to the soup toward the end of reheating, rather than in advance, so it won't overcook.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup, Calories: 361kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 86mg, Sodium: 363mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Fish + Shellfish

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