Shrimp Bisque
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If you’re looking for a festive starter for the holiday season, you cannot go wrong with this easy Shrimp Bisque recipe. It’s a silky smooth bisque with deep flavor, and the succulent shrimp, creme fraiche, with a dash of cayenne pepper and fresh tarragon is the perfect compliment.
It’s a wonderful first course that can be made mostly made-ahead and would be the perfect starter to my Make-Ahead Christmas Menu.
Or serve it as a starter to my Rosemary Beef Tenderloin, or Rack of Lamb or Roasted Turkey Breast recipes.
What is Shrimp Bisque Made of?
- There are a lot of different recipes for shrimp bisque but this one is made by creating a flavorful shrimp stock by sauteing the shrimp shells in butter, adding water, fresh herbs, and seasonings. Simmering until infused and then straining through a fine-mesh sieve. This will create the “homemade shrimp stock”.
- Then I saute the vegetables and simmer them in brandy until the liquid is evaporated. The brandy adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the bisque.
- Then I add tomato paste and the shrimp broth and blend the soup up until smooth.
- The final step is to cook the shrimp in the bisque, and then garnish with creme fraiche, a dusting of cayenne pepper, and fresh tarragon leaves. And the results are sublime!
Watch The Shrimp Bisque Video
Step#1: Prepare the Shrimp
- Prepare the shrimp by removing the shells from the shrimp. You can use frozen shrimp, but just be sure that they are labeled “easy-peel” shrimp.
- Easy-peel shrimp are scored down the back, making the shells easier to remove from the shrimp.
- The shells add a wonderful shrimp flavor to the broth, so it’s an important step you don’t want to skip.
- You can also swap out the shrimp for lobster or crab, just use the same amount (1 pound) and follow the same technique of extracting the raw meat, cooking the shells, and then cooking the lobster or crab meat in the bisque after it’s blended.
Step#2: Saute the Shrimp Shells
- Saute the shrimp shells in butter until they turn pink.
- This will create a delicious base for the shrimp stock.
- You’ll then add water, fresh thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and dried tarragon. I like a thinner bisque for a first course so it is not too filling, but for a thicker bisque add less water. See note in the recipe card.
- Allow it to simmer and then boil for 10 minutes.
- Then strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids.
- If you didn’t have shrimp shells, you could skip this step and use store-bought seafood stock.
Step#3: Saute the Vegetables
- Then you’ll saute the red onions, carrots, celery, and garlic cloves until fragrant. You can use a yellow onion if you prefer but I love the sweetness the red onions provide to the finished bisque.
- Add the brandy (pick a good one. I like the St. Remy French Brandy)
- You can swap the brandy for a dry white wine, or if you don’t drink you can leave out the alcohol all together.
- Then you’ll stir in the tomato paste and the reserved shrimp broth. Simmer and then puree the soup in a blender and place it in a cleaned out pot.
Make-Ahead Tips:
- The shrimp bisque can be made ahead up until this blending stage.
- Then allow it to cool, and place it in the refrigerator.
- Then all you have to do the next day is reheat the bisque until very hot, drop in the chopped raw shrimp, and simmer just until the shrimp are cooked through.
- Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they’ll be rubbery! Just cook them until they turn pink and opaque then serve immediately.
Serving and Garnishing Tips
- This bisque looks really pretty when served in shallow white bowls. Especially for a starter because you can fill it up with 2 ladles full of soup and not have it be too filling, saving room for the other courses in the meal.
- Once you fill the bowls, mound the shrimp up in the center of the bowl and then dollop the creme fraiche on top. This will prevent it from sinking and melting into the soup too quickly.
- I like using creme fraiche as a garnish instead of adding heavy cream to the bisque because it preserves the deep flavor of the bisque without diluting it.
- Then add a light dusting of cayenne pepper and the fresh tarragon leaves.
Shrimp Bisque Recipe
Yield:
serves 6
Prep Time:
30 minutes
Cook Time:
20 minutes
Total Time:
50 minutes
This shrimp bisque recipe is a wonderful 1st course for holiday entertaining! Silky smooth and full of flavor. Top with creme fraiche, cayenne pepper and fresh tarragon.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp (56 g) butter (separated)
- 1 lb shrimp (454 g) shells on (and shells reserved)
- 5 cups (1200 ml) water
- 1 tsp (5 ml) whole peppercorns
- 1 tsp (5 ml) dried tarragon
- 2 Bay leaves
- 7 sprigs of thyme
- 1 cup (100 g) diced red onion
- ½ cup (50 g) diced carrot
- ¼ cup (25 g) diced celery
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- ½ cup (120 ml) French Brandy (St. Remy)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) tomato paste, from a tube (sweeter than from a can)
Garnish:
- 6 dollops creme fraiche
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) Fresh tarragon
- a dusting of cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Peel and devein the shrimp. Reserve the shrimp shells, and set aside. Chop the shrimp into bite-sized pieces, place them in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large Dutch oven. Add the shrimp shells and saute them in the butter until the shells turn pink. Add the water, peppercorns, dried tarragon, bay leaves and thyme. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pour the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Pressing down the solids to extract any remaining broth. Discard the solids and set the broth aside.
- In a cleaned-out Dutch oven, melt the remaining butter. Add the red onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute until the vegetables are fragrant. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the brandy.
- Then turn the flame back on and simmer until the brandy has reduced by half. Add the tomato paste. Then add the reserved broth back in and simmer for 5 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Place the soup into a cleaned-out Dutch oven and heat until hot. Then add the shrimp, stirring until pink and cooked through 2-4 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp or it will be rubbery.
- Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Ladle soup into shallow bowls, creating a small mound of shrimp in the center. Top shrimp mound with a dollop of creme fraiche, a dust of cayenne pepper, and a few fresh tarragon leaves
Notes
- For a thinner bisque add more water (in 1/4 cup increments) after the soup is blended.
- Take the creme fraiche out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving to allow it to come up to room temp a bit which will prevent it from cooling down the bisque too much
Hi Beth! What would you suggest if I don’t have shrimp with shells?
Ah OK then I would just use Fish Stock. That’s basically what I’m doing in the first part of the recipe with the shells,herbs and water, making a stock. But you could just go ahead and skip all that and proceed to STEP #4 and use store-bought stock. I would start with 4 cups of stock and if after blending the bisque you want it thinner add 1/2-1 cup more stock. Hope you enjoy!