This Spicy and Creamy Keto Shrimp Bisque is a creamy, seafood lovers delight, with a little kick! Packed with flavor, fresh herbs, and spices, and loaded with cream, this soup feels and tastes like a fancy, restaurant-quality dish. You can make it at home for any special occasion, or if you're just craving something truly yummy! Not your average seafood bisque!
Now, we loooove soup and seafood, but we have to admit, we have always been a bit intimidated by seafood bisque recipes. We realize that there are a lot of ingredients, but we promise, this soup delivers a major punch of flavor and is worth the extra effort.
A couple years ago, we hosted a lobster dinner party for a couple of friends, made this soup and they were completely in awe. Since then, we've made the recipe over an over again, and in fact, we updated it twice now, since our original posting date back in 2018.
After scouring through countless recipes, we got a good idea of what an "average" shrimp bisque should look like. Then, we added some spice. (Of course, does anyone know Chamere?!) The result? Delicious. We are so proud to serve this on our dinner table.
We can assure you that if you can read a recipe, and commit to prepping all of your ingredients before starting, that this soup will be so much easier than you anticipated. Although this soup is a medium difficulty one, it’s truly worth it. Our friends loved it. This keto shrimp bisque will be the star of any dinner table.
If you're in the mood for shrimp, you may want to try this keto shrimp salad, this creamy mozzarella shrimp pasta, or these grilled shrimp and sausage skewers.
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❤️Why you'll love this
- Tons of flavor - The flavors in this soup are layered and complex, with the perfect amount of herbs, spice, acidity, brininess and salt. You'll love it.
- Impress friends & family - We have never served this to someone who didn't rave about it, so we're sure this recipe will help you win all the brownie points among loved ones!
- Rich & decadent - This soup is so rich and creamy, it's just absolutely delicious and so satisfying.
- Naturally low carb & gluten free - Although there are lots of ingredients that make this soup so flavorful, they are all naturally gluten free and low in carbs!
🍤Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this shrimp bisque recipe.
✏️Ingredient notes
Here's a list of all the ingredients used. Please read on in the post for more detailed notes on substitutions, and be sure to check out the recipe card for full quantities.
- Onion, garlic & celery - The base of a perfect bisque! The cuts don't need to be pretty, they will be pureed later.
- Olive oil & unsalted butter - For a luxurious and perfectly flavored base to cook everything in.
- Fresh herbs - Dry can be used instead if you prefer. We used fresh dill, thyme & oregano.
- Dry seasonings- Kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper
- Tomato paste - For a rich & deep flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce - For that extra something!
- Dry white wine - Something light and citrusy like a Sauvignon blanc. Avoid oaky chardonnays.
- Seafood stock - We use store bought, but have included instructions on how to make your own shrimp stock.
- Raw jumbo shrimp - Peeled and deveined, tails on or off. We like to leave the tails on because they add such a nice flavor to the soup. You can of course remove them. If making your own stock, reserve shrimp shells.
- Bay leaves - Optional
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese - We don't recommend using pre-shredded, as it won't melt well in the soup.
- Heavy whipping cream - To make this soup nice and creamy!
📖Instructions
This Google web story is a different way to view the instructions to make this shrimp bisque.
Step 1: Cook the Vegetables & Aromatics
In a stock pot or dutch oven, add your butter and olive oil, then add in your diced onions, and celery with a big pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
After about 5 minutes, add in fresh garlic, thyme, oregano, dill, tomato paste, and spices. Cook until tomato paste has deepened in color, about 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add The Liquids
Pour in the wine and cook for about 5 minutes to cook off the alcohol.
After about 5 minutes, pour in the seafood stock to warm for about 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: Puree & Add Dairy
Add the warmed stock with vegetables into a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree it until silky smooth, then add back to the stock pot & stir in heavy cream to warm through.
Stir in freshly grated parmesan cheese over medium-low heat, moving frequently to melt the cheese evenly and ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pan. Keep stirring until the soup is silky smooth, then add in bay leaves.
Step 5: Cook the Shrimp
Add most of your shrimp to the pot and simmer in the soup until the shrimp is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.
Hint: If desired, set aside a few shrimp, dry them off, and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a little cayenne. Cook them off in a hot skillet with a little olive oil to top your bowls.
Step 6: Assemble The Bowls
Once shrimp are cooked through, the bisque is ready, and it's best to serve right away to avoid cooking the shrimp too much. Before serving, remove the bay leave from the pot.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with fresh cream, herbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and optional cooked shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!
💬Frequently asked questions
Shrimp stock is easy to make. You can just peel off the shrimp shells, and toast them until they turn a bright orange color in a stock pot. We usually add in a little bit of garlic, as well as maybe some scraps of celery, carrots, onions and a couple of bay leaves, along with some salt and pepper.
Add a few cups of water, then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until you achieve your desired level of shrimp flavor. Then, strain away the shells and extra bits. Discard, then, there you have it! The perfect shrimp stock for this keto shrimp bisque recipe. 🙂
You could technically use all dry herbs and spices for this shrimp soup, but we love using some fresh thyme, oregano, and especially fresh dill.
If you only have dried spices and herbs, that should be totally fine. You can use about 1 teaspoon each of dried dill, oregano, and thyme. We do recommend using fresh dill and thyme if you can.
Yes! Another option for the best tasting (and best looking) shrimp bisque would be to reserve some of the uncooked shrimp by not cooking them in the soup.
You can set them aside, dry them off, and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a little cayenne. Then, cook them in a hot skillet with a little olive oil. Now, you can top your soup with these gorgeous morsels. Drizzle the olive oil you cooked the shrimp in and voila!
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🥣Reheating
To reheat the shrimp bisque soup, you will want to simmer it on stovetop until it is just heated through. Since it's packed with cream, you don't want to heat it too quickly or too much, because it will just make the cream curdle.
You also have to pay special attention to the shrimp. Please note that every time you reheat this soup, the shrimp will cook further, making it tougher.
You could set the shrimp aside when you heat up the broth, then just add it back into the hot soup for about a minute before eating again. Overall, this soup is truly best when it's served hot and fresh.
🌟Leave a 5-star review!
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📖 Recipe
Keto Shrimp Bisque Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- 5 tablespoon fresh oregano
- 5 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon black ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 16 ounces dry white wine
- 16 ounces seafood stock (homemade or store bought)
- 32 ounces raw shrimp
- 3 whole bay leaves
- 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces fresh grated parmesan
Instructions
- Peel the shrimp and discard the shells, unless you are making your own seafood stock. Set peeled shrimp aside.
- In a stock pot or dutch oven, add your butter and olive oil, then add in your diced onions, and celery. Add a pinch of salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in your garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Now, put the minced fresh herbs into the pot (dill, thyme and oregano) along with your dry spices (red pepper flakes and cayenne) cook for about 1 minute.
- Now, add in your tomato paste and cook (stirring frequently) for about 2 minutes. Next, add in your wine and Worcestershire sauce, cook for about 5 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Pour in the seafood stock.
- Add the warmed stock with vegetables into a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree it until silky smooth. Once pureed, add in the grated parmesan cheese, and heavy whipping cream. Stir to warm and melt the cheese, until the mixture is silky smooth.
- Add most of your shrimp to the pot and simmer in the soup until the shrimp is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. If desired, set aside a few shrimp, dry them off, and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a little cayenne. Cook them off in a hot skillet with a little olive oil.
- After soup is done, remove the bay leaves, top with cooked shrimp, garnish with fresh dill and thyme. Serve this Creamy Shrimp Bisque and enjoy!
Notes
- To reheat, simmer gently on the stovetop, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
- To substitute fresh thyme and dill with dried, use about 1 teaspoon each of dried herbs.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
Deb says
Made this tonight! Didn't have dill or Worcestershire sauce, still came out amazing!!
Briana says
This is fabulous to hear Deb! So glad you were able to improvise and it was still amazing!
E.McCord says
I've made this twice and It is delicious!
Briana says
We're so glad to hear it!! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
regina salley says
this recipe looks so delicous will try very soon
Briana says
Hey Regina! Thanks so much for that. It's truly delicious, we know you're going to love it! 🙂