Seafood shellfish bisque soup is as delicious as it sounds, but without an expensive price tag. You just need leftover shells from lobster, crab or prawns.
It's easy to make, full of the flavours of the sea and a little kick of cayenne!
Keep reading if you want to know how to make this fabulous soup.
It's elegant enough for a starter for entertaining and satisfying for a simple lunch too.
Best of all, it costs just pennies to make and nobody will know!
Bon appétit!
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Steaming hot seafood bisque soup with the kick of cayenne. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! This was definitely my husband's favourite when we lived in France and it still is.
There's something really comforting about a soup, whatever the time of year. As a child I remember having soup on cold winter days and, even now, a good soup with a chunk of bread, always makes everything feel better.
This French shellfish bisque is still extremely popular. It's sold in bottles in the chilled section and just needs to be warmed through. Of course, I can't often buy it now, but it's so easy to make at home.
❤️ Why you will love this dish
- This soup uses leftover shellfish shells, so costs very little to make.
- You can make this on the hob, in the oven or in a slow cooker, so you don't have to watch over it.
- You can make this soup in advance so it's perfect for easy entertaining.
- It's rich, creamy and delicious!
- Perfect for New Year celebrations.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Shellfish - any shellfish shells, so perfect for any Christmas eve leftovers. The best ones to use are prawn, crab, lobster and langoustine
- Onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Bay leaf or bouquet garni
- Brandy - this is optional but gives a depth to the soup.
- Tomato purée -
- Fish sauce - normally used in Asian cooking, this is fermented fish sauce. It's extremely strong but enhances the flavour when used sparingly.
- Butter - salted or unsalted for thickening the soup.
- Flour - plain or all purpose flour.
💭 Top Tip
- The ingredients for the bisque are very simple in that it's leftover shells from prawns, crab and lobster.
- Whenever we have shellfish, for a special occasion, I always collect the shells. There is often a lot of meat and flavour tucked away in the nooks and crannies that is impossible to get out by hand.
- The best way to do this is to keep a bag in the freezer and add shells to it each time you have shellfish. When you can fill a 2.5 pint bowl or 1.5 litres, you have enough.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- deep roasting dish
- blender or food processor
- stockpot or large saucepan
- wooden spoon
- sieve
🔪 Instructions
Take a bag of shells straight from the freezer and spread on an oven roasting dish.
Place it in a preheated oven at 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6 for 15 minutes.
Add a glug of brandy and flambée on the hob until the flames die down.
You can skip this step if you prefer.
Tip the whole lot of shells into a stockpot.
Peel and chop a carrot, onion and a stick of celery.
Add to the pot.
Pop in a couple of bay leaves or a bouquet garni and enough water to cover.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Simmer for a couple of hours over a medium heat on the hob or covered in a low oven at 150 C / 300 F / 130 FAN / Gas 2.
You can also put it in a slow cooker on low for 4 hours.
Remove the big, hard pieces of shell and then use a stick blender, blender of processor the purée the rest. Pour through a sieve, and add some of the sludge depending on how much you like - that's where the taste is!
Add some tomato purée, some fish sauce and season to taste. The fish sauce intensifies the flavours further.
At this stage I often find that the seafood bisque is too thin.
In a clean saucepan add butter, over a medium heat, until it melts. Next, add some flour and stir for a minute until it forms a thick paste.
Now add the soup to the pan, slowly stirring all the time.
For a really creamy seafood bisque serve with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper.
The crusty bread is, of course, obligatory!
💭 Top Tip
This is great for a dinner party as it is so simple, frugal and posh at the same time.
- If the sauce is not thick enough for your taste you can use a tablespoon of cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water and stir into the hot soup.
- Serve this with plenty of crusty bread and a crisp Muscadet sur lie wine.
- When you are freezing shells take care to remove the gills and stomach sac, which is found behind the eyes.
🥗 Serve with
Serve the sshellfish bisque as an elegant starter for special meals such as
- Turkey Ballotine
- Roast Partridge
- Chateaubriand
- Cannon of Lamb
- Côte de Boeuf
- Bavette Steak
- Pork Confit
- Chicken en Croûte
- Duck with Orange Sauce
- Picanha Beef
- Rack of Pork
- Pigeon Breast
- Roast Lamb Shanks
🥙 Substitutions
- Fish sauce - use anchovy essence.
📖 Variations
- Cream - stir through some double or heavy cream for a luxurious soup.
- Garnish - with chopped parsley and a few cooked prawns
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - cool, cover and store for up to 2 days.
- Freezer - do not add and cream then pack into containers or soup bags and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheat - in a saucepan over a medium heat.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Make up to 2 days in advance, cool, cover and store in the fridge.
A soup can be made from any ingredient but a bisque is made specifically by simmering shellfish and is normally finished with cream to provide a velvety finish.
What's your favourite fish soup? This is definitely one of mine!
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
More soup recipes to try
📋 Recipe
Shellfish Bisque Soup
Equipment
- deep roasting dish
- blender or food processor
- stockpot or large saucepan
- wooden spoon
- sieve
Ingredients
- 1.5 litre shellfish shells
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 litre water
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 stick celery chopped
- 1 bay leaf or bouquet garni
- 50 ml brandy
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce to taste
- 25 g butter
- 25 g flour
Instructions
- Roast the shells at 200C/400F Gas 6 for 15 minutes.
- Add brandy and flambée on the hob.
- Transfer shells to a stock pot and add carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf or bouquet garni and enough water to cover.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours.
- Remove the large pieces of shell and blitz the rest with a stick blender.
- Sieve and add a few spoonfuls of the sludgy shell.
- In a clean saucepan add the butter over a medium heat until melted. Tip in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time.
- Transfer the shellfish bisque back to pot, season and add tomato purée and fish sauce before warming through.
- Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper.
Notes
- If the sauce is not thick enough for your taste you can use a tablespoon of cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water and stir into the hot soup.
- Serve this with plenty of crusty bread and a crisp Muscadet sur lie wine.
- When you are freezing shells take care to remove the gills and stomach sac, which is found behind the eyes.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
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🍲 Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Ieva
This was delicious! And what a beautiful way to use the shells! I would have never thought to use them in bisque if it wasn't for your recipe! Paired with the fish sauce, it was super flavoursome and certainly warmed us up on a cold autumn day!
Kushigalu
What a delicious soup. Perfect treat for all seafood lovers. Thanks for sharing
veenaazmanov
Delicious and a flavorful dish and sea food, Sounds super delicious and yum.
Chris Collins
Now this is proper comfort food! Can't wait to make this for dinner tomorrow 🙂
Vicky
This soup is amazing!! Delicious recipe!
Tania | Fit Foodie Nutter
This delicious soup transported me to sunny France, which was so much needed (it's been raining buckets in England for days!) Such a delicious dinner for any day of the week!