Crab Bisque

5 from 4 votes

This crab bisque is creamy, silky and irresistible. Start off with a tomato and vegetable stock base, then finished with fresh lump crab meat and cream. Top with oyster crackers or dunk in some sourdough bread.

Prep Time5

Cook Time35

Total Time40

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Servings: People

Calories: 358kcal

Author: Kristin

Equipment

Ingredients

2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Medium Yellow Onion Diced
3-4 Celery Stalks
2-3 Fresh Garlic Cloves Minced or Pressed
3 Tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
4 Cup Seafood Stock Or Vegetable Stock
2 Bay Leaves
1 pound Fresh Crab Meat Can use ½ of a pound as well. Depends on how much crab you want.
½ Cup Heavy Cream Optional, but it does make it extra creamy

Instructions

Warm up the Dutch Oven with olive oil and butter over medium-low heat. Add in the onions and sauté until soft and translucent. About 5 minutes.
Add in diced celery and continue to cook until they are very soft. The veggies need to be really soft and tender before we add the tomato paste.
Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Now, mix in the flour and stir well until everything is coated. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until the flour is completely cooked out.
Stir in the tomato paste, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. It will be really thick.
Slowly pour in the vegetable stock. Using a wooden spoon or spatula to stir while the stock is being added.
Add in the bay leaves.
Simmer for 20 minutes. The longer it simmers the deeper the flavor becomes.
Remove both bay leaves. Then carefully add soup to a blender in batches and run until it is completely smooth.
An immersion blender or food processor can also be used.
Transfer back to the pot over low heat and add in the heavy cream and crab meat. Cook for 5 minutes or until the soup is brought back up to temp and the crab meat is warm.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes

Ingredient Note:

Crab Meat: For this recipe it calls for Dungeness crab, but really any crab meat can be used. Even canned. Just make sure it is cooked beforehand.

You can use anywhere from a half to a whole pound of crab. Really depends on how crabby you want it.

Stock: The best broth to use would be a seafood or crab stock. These can be both hard to find and time consuming to make. If you do not have access to either, a quality vegetable stock will work well.

Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is going to give you the creamiest and thickest consistency, but either half and half or whole milk can also be used. It just won't be as thick as it would with heavy cream. Make sure to add it in after the soup is blended, not before.

Nutrition