Crawfish Bisque is a Louisiana classic and a real must-eat if you're anywhere near New Orleans. Bring that Big Easy flavor home with this easy, restaurant-style seafood bisque recipe.
In a traditional crawfish bisque, every part of the crawfish is used, from the head to the tail and every centimeter of shell in between.
It's...a lot of crawfish wrangling.
I've simplified the process and adapted it for those of us who use crawfish tail meat more often than whole crawfish. But the flavors and textures consistent with my memories of this remarkable dish.
This is a great recipe for using a bag of frozen tails from your local grocery store, or using leftover meat from your crawfish boil. I also use leftover crawfish tails in Crawfish Hand Pies and sometimes in Lobster Risotto.
Ingredients for this recipe:
Full ingredient measurements included in the printable recipe card below.
Step by step instructions for this Crawfish Bisque:
1. Assemble crawfish cake
Add ½ cup onion, ½ cup celery and 3 tablespoons green onions to the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and add minced vegetables, along with minced garlic cloves. Sauté until tender and fragrant - about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
When cooled, combine the vegetables with breadcrumbs, chopped crawfish tails, beaten egg and Old Bay in a mixing bowl. (Need a sub? Check out 6 Ways to Substitute for Old Bay Seasoning). Combine gently but thoroughly.
Scoop rounded tablespoon-sized crawfish cakes onto a baking sheet. You should have 20-24 cakes.
2. Cook crawfish cake
Return large skillet to burner over medium. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When hot, add crawfish cakes in a single layer, being sure not to crowd the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from pan onto a rack over a cookie sheet to drain any excess oil. Keep the crispy crawfish cakes in a warm oven while preparing soup.
3. Brown roux for crawfish bisque recipe
Combine oil and flour in a heavy, large Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir the roux periodically and continue to cook until it reaches a medium to dark roux state - about the color of peanut butter. This will take around 10-14 minutes.
4. Start bisque
Add diced onion, green peppers, celery and garlic cloves to the pot of roux. Stir to coat the vegetables and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Add scallions, tomato paste, crawfish or seafood stock, 2 bay leaves and Old Bay Seasoning. Bring the bisque to a simmer and let it cook for 15 minutes.
5. Blend bisque until smooth
Taste and adjust seasoning. If you want a mostly smooth bisque, remove the pot of soup from the heat and use an immersion blender, being careful not to splash the hot soup.
6. Finishing touches!
Return the pot of soup to the heat and add whole crawfish tails and cream. Stir to combine and allow the tails to heat through.
7. Garnish and serve
Ladle bisque into shallow soup bowls. Top with 3 crispy crawfish cake croutons, diced green onions and reserved crawfish tails. Serve with hot sauce and crusty bread.
Hungry for more Cajun flavors?
FAQ's and Serving Suggestions:
Old Bay and creole seasoning brands often contain small amounts of peppers to add mild spice. If you're looking for more heat, add a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the bisque, and a pinch to the crawfish cakes. Red pepper flakes are always a great option, and I like to serve the bisque with a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce so everyone at the table can customize their bowl.
Traditionally, this soup is served with a scoop of buttered, white long-grain rice in the bowl. With the crispy crawfish cakes, I often skip the buttered rice and serve the bisque with a Crawfish Hand Pies and Gazpacho Salad. And crusty bread is a must-have to dip into this soup.
Plain breadcrumbs will have less texture and flavor than panko crumbs, so add an extra pinch of salt and pepper. Homemade breadcrumbs can also be substituted if you have odds and ends of a bread loaf in the freezer.
Shrimp is an excellent substitute for crawfish meat and I've used it to make this soup (and crawfish pie) several times. I generally buy medium shrimp and chop them for the cakes and leave them whole for the bisque.
If cooking for pescatarians, vegetable stock is your best option. For non-pescatarians, you can use six cups water and chicken stock cubes.
The difference in the two dishes is etouffee is usually thicker than bisque and has larger chopped pieces of onions, celery and green peppers. Bisque has a fine, smooth texture from the pureed veggies and other ingredients. Bisque is more of a soup while etouffee is more the consistency of a stew or thick sauce.
To store, transfer bisque to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat by adding to a few tablespoons of stock, if needed, and warming over medium heat.
Delicious Crawfish Bisque Recipe with Crispy Crawfish Cakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6
Ingredients
For the Crispy Crawfish Cakes:
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup crawfish tail meat, diced
½ cup yellow onion, diced
½ cup celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons scallions, diced
1 large egg, beaten well
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
For the Bisque:
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 cup celery, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups crawfish stock (or seafood stock)
¼ cup scallions, diced
1 cup crawfish tail meat
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup fresh parsley, diced
1 ½ tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To begin, assemble the crispy crawfish cakes. Add ½ cup onion, ½ cup celery and 3 tablespoons green onions to the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and add minced vegetables, along with minced garlic cloves. Sauté until tender and fragrant - about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- When cooled, combine vegetables and butter, cup of the bread crumbs, chopped crawfish tails, beaten egg and old bay in a mixing bowl. Combine gently but thoroughly. Scoop rounded tablespoon-sized crawfish cakes onto a baking sheet. You should have about 24 cakes.
- Return large skillet to burner over medium. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When hot, add crawfish cakes in a single layer, being sure not to crowd the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Turn in the pan and and cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan onto a rack over a cookie sheet to drain any excess oil. Keep the crispy crawfish cakes in a warm oven while preparing soup.
- Next, prepare the creamy crawfish bisque. Combine the oil and flour in a heavy large Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir the roux periodically until it reaches a medium to dark roux state - about the color of peanut butter. This will take about 10-14 minutes.
- Add diced onion, bell peppers, celery and garlic cloves to the pot of roux. Stir to coat the vegetables and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add scallions, tomato paste, crawfish or seafood stock, 2 bay leaves and Old Bay Seasoning. Bring the bisque to a simmer and let it cook for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. (If you want a mostly smooth bisque, remove the soup from the heat, fish out the bay leaf and use immersion blender, being careful not to splash the hot soup.) Add crawfish tails (reserving a few for topping the bowls, if desired) and cream and stir gently. Allow the tails to heat through.
- Ladle bisque into shallow soup bowls. Top with 3 crispy crawfish cake croutons, diced fresh scallions and reserved crawfish tails. Serve with hot sauce and crusty bread.
Notes
Old Bay and creole seasoning brands often contain small amounts of peppers to add mild spice. If you're looking for more heat, add a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the bisque, and a pinch to the crawfish cakes. Red pepper flakes are always a great option, and I like to serve the bisque with a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce so everyone at the table can customize their bowl.
Substitute shrimp for crawfish in the mini-cakes and the bisque, if needed.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American, Cajun
christina toth
This looks amazing!! And comforting to compose and devour! And now I even have Old Bay🌞
Joanne
Came out great! And so much easier to make. The crawfish cakes were to die for. Really the perfect touch.Thanks!
Christina Jolam
That's so good to hear, Joanne! Those crawfish cakes are pretty fantastic, especially on that rich bisque. Yum. Making me hungry! Thanks for coming back to leave a review.