What can I serve with this creamy soup?

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.

Can I use plain breadcrumbs in the crawfish cakes?

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.

I can't find crawfish since it's out of season, can I use shrimp instead?

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.

What can I use in place of crawfish or seafood stock?

If cooking for pescatarians, vegetable stock is your best option. For non-pescatarians, you can use six cups water and chicken stock cubes.

What's the difference between etouffee and bisque?

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.

How to store crawfish bisque?

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.

Easy Crawfish Bisque - Weekday Pescatarian

Ingredients

Scale

For the Crispy Crawfish Cakes:

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 cup crawfish tail meat, diced

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced

1/2 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)

1/4 cup scallions, diced

1 cup crawfish tail meat

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup fresh parsley, diced

1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

To begin, assemble the crispy crawfish cakes. Add 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 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