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My husband and I have *tried* to keep date nights a priority over the years. It definitely isn’t easy and we don’t schedule them nearly as often as we’d like (though we do plan some fun at-home ones pretty often). Frequently, we bring a nursing baby with us and a date gets cut short by bedtime or a diaper explosion, but we try.
There is only one restaurant in our town that we really enjoy and it has been our go-to date place for years. Unfortunately, it recently came under new management, is temporarily closed, and is re-opening under a new name and with a new menu.
This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for one thing: Their delicious seafood bisque.
This restaurant had an amazing seafood bisque and it was often the only thing I’d order for a meal because it was so incredibly good. I’m not optimistic that it will be on the new menu when it re-opens so before I forgot the taste of that delicious soup, I decided to try to recreate it.
We have limited access to quality seafood where we are, so I decided to use shrimp as the base in place of more expensive and harder to find seafood like crab or lobster.
I actually can’t believe I didn’t try to recreate this recipe sooner, as it was relatively expensive at the restaurant and probably had some questionable ingredients anyway. Now, we can enjoy this favorite soup at home even when we can’t make it out for a date night!
What is a Bisque?
A little slice of heaven. Ok, so technically it is a creamy, broth-based, flavored French soup. It is often made with a seafood broth as a base and may also contain sauted and pureed vegetables to thicken and flavor it. Though the term “bisque” can now often refer to any type of creamy soup, the original and authentic bisque contains broth and seafood.
This is the most budget-friendly authentic bisque I’ve been able to make, since it contains shrimp, which is often easy to find and inexpensive (even wild caught). It does contain dairy, so as it is written it wouldn’t be good for anyone with a dairy allergy. You can substitute thick coconut milk for the cream in this recipe. It will change the taste and texture slightly but will still create a good finished product.
Simple Shrimp Bisque Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 TBSP butter
- 2 TBSP carrots (grated)
- 1 stalk celery (finely chopped)
- 1 shallot (finely chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ cup white wine (optional)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 dash hot sauce (optional)
- 1 lb wild caught shrimp
- 2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the carrots and celery and saute 5 minutes.
- Add the shallot and garlic and saute an additional 3 minutes taking care not to burn the garlic.
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan and cook 30 seconds to evaporate the alcohol.
- Add the chicken broth, spices, and hot sauce.
- Use a hand-held immersion blender to puree bisque until completely smooth.
- Bring contents of pot to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer.
- Chop the shrimp roughly and add to pan. If the shrimp are precooked, just heat until warm. If shrimp are raw, simmer for 3-4 minutes or until cooked and pink.
- Stir in heavy cream and simmer 4 minutes until just thickened. Do not allow to boil.
- Serve immediately, or for better flavor, refrigerate overnight and reheat slowly before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have a favorite soup recipe? Care to share?
Good, I added some cayenne pepper to it! It seems a little “thin”, did I do something wrong?
Very good I cooked it tonight for dinner .
Can you make this without carrots
I would add a dash of sherry instead of the white wine
Can I use half and half
If I do not have heavy cream?
Yes.
PLEASE add this to real plans! This was amazing. Can’t wait to have again. Thinking of making the recipe (without cream and shrimp) to freeze. I can warm it up later and add the shrimp and cream for a quick supper. Thanks so much
It will be soon 😉
While making this I was very skeptical- the base seemed way too thin and it did not look as pink as the photo. Turns out it was delicious! Not something I’d ever try to seek out but I am so glad you posted this fabulous recipe.
I am sorta new to the coconut oil rave and certainly hope “they” dont come up with discoveries that coconut oil has toxic or unhealthy outcomes over ones lifetime like “they” have in the past with eggs and other very healthy foods, cause I LOVE coconut oil. I use it as a moisturizer, make up remover, basicly full body care. I have extremely dry skin, like rough patches and flakes coating my clothes no matter how much “extra dry” body lotion i use..This problem is from medication,winter skin itch, central heat indoors that zap moisture from you and cause painful serious conditions. I thrilled to say the foconut oil has kicked all my dry skin issues to the curb. Thanks for your extensive researched info on nut oil. Ps cant wait to make this soup. I used to get carry out lobster bisqe from Red Lobster and buy a few cheddar bay Biscuits , but now they sell the mix at the store, now do it all yourself and save money.
I’d like to know why you gave this recipe a 5 star since you hadn’t even tried it, and you basically only talked about your dry skin issues, and buying takeout from Red Lobster. I wish people would actually vote on a recipe..as given.. which would be helpful to everyone who really wants to try a certain recipe.
Can this recipe be made with a more “carb friendly” vegetable other than carrots? It looks delicious!
This sounds so amazing!!! Thank you!
Anyone else have anymore ideas for variations on how to keep it dairy free without ruining the flavor?