Ultimate Seafood Bisque Recipe (Restaurant-Quality at Home)

Seafood bisque loaded with lobster, mussels, shrimp, and scallops is creamy, rich, and deeply flavored. This restaurant-quality soup brings the elegance of fine dining to your home kitchen, featuring a velvety base naturally thickened by seafood rather than flour or starch. The secret lies in creating a homemade seafood stock from the shells, which infuses every spoonful with intense ocean flavor that will transport you straight to the coast.

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Why This Recipe Works

In the hierarchy of seafood-based soups, bisque reigns supreme. This recipe achieves incredible depth through a three-stage process that maximizes flavor extraction. First, the seafood is gently steamed to preserve tenderness. Then, the shells create a rich stock that forms the soup’s foundation. Finally, the cream and aromatics are added to create that signature velvety texture. Combining four different seafood types provides complexity, while the homemade stock ensures restaurant-quality results.

What Makes This the Best Creamy Seafood Bisque Recipe? 

This seafood bisque soup is beyond decadent. The heavy cream and milk create a velvety, smooth mouthfeel. The tartness of the lemon juice and white wine heightens the brininess of the seafood. The grated carrots bring a touch of natural sweetness to the recipe.

The result is a perfectly balanced seafood bisque that will please your family and impress your guests. 

Soup Nazi Seafood Bisque

The Original Soupman Soup Kitchen in New York City was featured in one of the Seinfield TV episodes “The Soup Nazi” (season 7, episode 6). In that episode, one of the coveted soups was seafood bisque. This is the best copycat recipe for that special soup.

Ingredients for Seafood Bisque

For the Seafood Preparation:

• Dry white wine – Creates an aromatic steaming liquid and adds bright acidity
• Bay leaf – Infuses subtle herbal notes during the steaming process
• Onion – Provides foundational flavor for both steaming and stock
• Garlic – Adds aromatic depth that complements seafood’s natural brininess
• Celery – Contributes vegetal sweetness and classic mirepoix flavor

For the Seafood:

• Fresh lobster – Provides sweet, delicate meat and shells for a rich stock base
• Fresh shrimp in the shell – Adds tender texture and shells for stock depth
• Mussels – Contribute briny ocean flavor and natural shellfish essence
• Sea scallops – Offer sweet, meaty texture that absorbs surrounding flavors

For the Bisque Base:

• Heavy whipping cream – Creates the signature rich, velvety mouthfeel
• Milk – Adds creaminess while preventing the soup from being too heavy
• Dried thyme – Provides earthy, aromatic notes that complement seafood
• Fresh parsley – Adds bright, herbaceous flavor and visual appeal
• Dried rosemary – Contributes pine-like aromatics that enhance complexity

For Finishing:

• Fresh spinach – Adds color, nutrition, and mild earthy flavor
• Carrots – provide natural sweetness to balance the soup’s richness
• Fresh lemon juice – Brightens flavors and enhances seafood’s natural taste

For a low-carb seafood bisque, opt for a Pinot Grigio since it has fewer carbs than other white wines. Carb watchers may want to skip the mussels since they have the most carbs of all the seafood in this recipe, although many people still consider them Keto diet-friendly. 

How to Make Seafood Bisque

This is a long, involved recipe, and dividing it into three sections will make it easier to tackle.

To prepare the seafood for this bisque:

1. Bring the white wine, bay leaf, onion, garlic, and celery to a simmer in a large stainless-steel stockpot with a steaming basket and lid.

2. Steam the lobster in the covered pot for 10 minutes. If you feel squeamish about steaming a live lobster, check out this article to learn how to dispatch a lobster as humanely as possible. 
3. After the lobster cooks, remove it with tongs and plunge the lobster into a bowl of ice water for about a minute to stop the cooking process. Pat the lobster dry and set it aside.
4. Steam the shrimp in the covered pot for five minutes. Cool in the ice bath, dry, and place them off to the side.
5. Steam the mussels in the covered pot until they open. If any mussel shells remain closed after five minutes, throw them away. Take the meat out of the open mussels and toss the empty shells in the trash. Reserve the meat from the mussels. 
6. Pour two cups of water into the stockpot and bring to a simmer. Add the sea scallops to the basket, cover, and steam for three minutes. Remove the scallops, dunk in the ice water, pat dry, and place with the other seafood.

To make the stock for the bisque:

1. Use seafood shears to cut open the lobster shells and remove as much meat as possible. Save the shells and reserve the meat separately. Cut the meat into small dice and reserve.
2. Peel the shrimp and remove the vein from the shrimp using a paring knife. Save the shells and reserve the meat separately. 
3. Add the shrimp and lobster shells to the stockpot. 
4. Pour two cups of cold water into the stockpot and bring it to a boil over high heat.
5. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
6. Strain the seafood broth and save.
7. Discard the solids.

To finish the creamy seafood bisque recipe:

1. Return the strained seafood broth to a large, clean stockpot and bring it to a simmer over medium-low heat.
2. Stir in the cream, milk, chopped thyme, parsley, and rosemary into the broth and simmer for around five minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cut the reserved seafood into bite-sized pieces. 
4. Once the bisque base thickens, add the reserved cooked seafood to the stockpot and return to a simmer.
5. Add the chopped spinach and grated carrots to the pot and simmer until the spinach wilts, about two to three minutes. You want to add these vegetables in later because the carrots can color the soup orange quickly, and you don’t want the spinach to overcook.
6. Turn off the heat and season with salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice. 

Recipe Variations

The variety of seafood in this bisque gives it a deep and complex flavor, but you don’t have to use all four types of seafood. However, since the lobster and shrimp shells help develop the seafood stock’s flavor, you should use at least one of them. Try substituting fish stock for some of the water in the recipe for even more taste.

Classic seafood bisques often include a shot or two of sherry or brandy to add more complexity to the recipe. If you want to revive this tradition, pour a quarter cup of brandy or dry sherry into the pot when adding the spinach and carrots. 

How To Serve Seafood Bisque Soup

Ladle the warm seafood bisque into the bowl and garnish with a little chopped parsley, or some thinly sliced green onions and a squeeze of lemon. 

What Goes Well With Creamy Seafood Bisque? 

Try serving with:

• Biscuits Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster go amazingly well with this bisque.
• Your favorite potato dish. Choose anything from baked or roasted potatoes to french fries or lyonnaise potatoes. 
• Roasted Brussels sprouts. The slightly bitter-sweetness of roasted Brussels sprouts perfectly matches this seafood bisque recipe.

Storage & Reheating Instructions

• Freezing: This is not recommended, as dairy-based soups with seafood typically don’t freeze well and may develop a grainy texture upon thawing.
• Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 3 days. Note that cream-based soups may separate slightly when chilled.
• Reheating Method: Reheat gently over low heat, whisking frequently. Add a splash of cream or seafood stock if needed to restore consistency. Never microwave, as this can cause separation.

Love seafood soup? Try These Recipes

• Clam Chowder
• Crab Bisque
• Crawfish Bisque
• She Crab Soup

Popular Soup Recipes

• Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Corn Chowder Soup
• Cream of Celery Soup
• Dixie Stampede Soup
• Homemade Potato Soup
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• Zuppa Toscana Soup

Check out my easy soup recipes and the best seafood recipes here on CopyKat!

This recipe is adapted from the New York Cookbook by Molly O’Neal.

Ultimate Seafood Bisque Recipe

Rich, creamy seafood bisque with lobster, shrimp, mussels, and scallops. Restaurant-quality soup made at home with incredible flavor.

4.84 from 6 votes

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Seafood Bisque

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 556kcal

Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 1/2 pounds lobster
• 12 shrimp in the shell
• 24 mussels well scrubbed
• 12 sea scallops
• 4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 cup fresh spinach well rinsed and washed
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• Combine the white wine, bay leaf, onion, garlic, and celery in a large nonreactive stockpot over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
• Add the lobster, cover the pot, and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the lobster and set aside.
• Add the shrimp, cover the pot, and steam for 5 minutes. Remove the shrimp with tongs and set aside.
• Add the mussels, cover the pot, and steam until they open, about 5 minutes. Remove the mussels with tongs and extract the meat. Set the meat aside, and discard the shells along with any mussels that do not open.
• Add 2 cups of water to the liquid in the pot, and bring to a boil.
• Add the scallops. Cover the pot and steam for 3 minutes. Remove the scallops with tongs.
• Extract the lobster meat, and peel and devein the shrimp, reserving all of the shells.
• Chop the lobster and shrimp meat into bite-size pieces, cover and set aside.
• Return the lobster and shrimp shells to the pot of broth and add 2 cups water.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Strain the solids from the broth, return the liquid to the pot, and bring it to a simmer over low heat.
• Add the cream, milk, thyme, parsley, and rosemary and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Return the lobster, shrimp, mussels, and scallops to the pot, and simmer for about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the spinach and carrots, and simmer for another 2 minutes, or until the spinach is just wilted.
• Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the lemon juice.

Nutrition

Calories: 556kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 231mg | Sodium: 404mg | Potassium: 443mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 3595IU | Vitamin C: 7.2mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 1.9mg