A relative easy bisque that marries the flavors of a tomato bisque with crab and just enough chile powder to provide a pleasing spiciness.
One of my favorite soups is a tomato bisque, and my all-time favorite seafood is crab, especially Gulf blue crab. This tomato crab bisque is a marriage of these two favorites. You start with a creamy, spicy tomato bisque made with a seafood or shrimp stock, complementary spices and herbs, and a touch of cream. Then you top it off with a generous amount of lump crab, a fresh herb, and a spicy finishing oil. Serve with a baguette, a sourdough bread, a grilled cheese, or nothing at all. It stands quite well on its own.
When searching for ideas for bisques, I found this recipe Blushing Tomato Crab Bisque at Little Spice Jar’s blog. It became my inspiration. Because I lean more and more toward quick & easy cooking nowadays, I made several changes. The first change was to use canned fire-roasted tomatoes rather than roasting the tomatoes. A few other changes were made in the cooking method as well as the ingredients. All in all I was able to make this delicious bowl of goodness in less than an hour without sacrificing flavor. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
A spicy, creamy bisque that combines the flavors of a tomato-carrot bisque with rich lump crab and some spicy seasoning.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
Cook time is assuming you already have the stock.
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 – 14.5 ounce cans Organic Fire-roasted diced tomatoes*
- 2 cups shrimp/seafood stock* + 1 cup water or 2 cups chicken stock + 1 cup water
- ½ cup heavy cream or half & half for a lighter soup
- 8-10 ounces lump crab meat
- Chopped fresh herb e.g., parsley, chives, dill
- Finishing oil*
- ¼ tsp. dill seed
- ½ tsp. Sweet paprika*
- 1 tsp. Chimayo Red Chile Powder* or to taste
- 1 Tbsp. basil purée or pesto*
- 1 tsp. prepared horseradish* or to taste
- In a soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. When hot, add the onions, carrots, shallot, and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally until onion and shallots are starting to brown about 5 – 7 minutes.
- Add the dill seed, paprika and chile powder. Sitr into vegetables for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, basil purée and horseradish.
Use a little water or stock to rinse out the tomato cans. Transfer liquid to the soup pot.
Add the stock and water.
Stir and heat over medium until soup comes to a boil. Reduce heat for a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup into a smooth texture.
Return to a medium low heat and simmer another 10 minutes. If the soup is not smooth enough, blend again. You may need to add a little more water if the soup if too thick to your liking. I usually end up adding about 1/2 cup more. Just be careful not to get it too thin.
Stir in the cream.
If you plan on serving immediately, reheat the soup to a low simmer, simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
If you plan to serve later or the next day, let the soup cool and refrigerate. When ready to serve, heat soup over medium-low heat to a low simmer and simmer for 5 minutes until heated through.
To serve, scoop bisque into serving bowls, place about 1/4 cup of lump crab into the middle of the bowl, drizzle with some finishing oil and top with your choice of chopped fresh herb. Serve.
Tomatoes – If you don’t have 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, you can use regular canned tomatoes for one or both of the cans. You can also use about 4 cups frozen tomatoes. A really nice combo it to use 3 cups frozen tomatoes and 1 cup tomato confit.
Shrimp stock – You could actually use a seafood stock or chicken stock. To make your own shrimp stock, Add 6 cups water to a pot with the heads/shells from 2-4 pounds shrimp. Add 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer and set aside until ready to use.
Red chile powder – I really like the medium-hot Chimayo red, but if you don’t have it, just use your favorite red chile powder. Make sure that red chile is the only ingredient. How much you use is dependent on how spicy you want the bisque to be. I use 1 tsp for a nice spicy bite.
Paprika – For a more smokey flavor, substitute with smoked paprika or 1/4 tsp. smoked and 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika.
Basil purée – At the end of the summer, I process the remaining garden basil into a purée but putting the leaves in a blender with a little salt and some olive oil. It’s then poured into a ziplock, which is laid flat in the freezer. When I need fresh tasting basil, I just break off a chuck and add to the dish. However, since you probably won’t have this in your freezer, a little basil pesto works just as well.
Horseradish – 1/2 tsp. horseradish is a nice amount for people who don’t like it (like my husband). It’s subtle, but it’s there. If I were to make this just for me, I would add at least 3/4 tsp, if not 1 tsp. That’s why I have indicated “season to taste”.
Finishing Oil – Best to use a chile infused oil. Three of my favorites are this red chile oil, a harissa oil, or a smoked chile oil.
Resting time – As with any soup, stew, chowder or bisque, it’s always best the next day. So if you have time, make this a day in advance and let rest in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
If you are looking for another bisque, I highly recommend giving this Fenugreek Fish and Clam Bisque a try. It’s more of a seafood bisque with a completely different seasoning and a delicious flavor.
This soup looks so lovely! Hearty, yummy, and also elegant. Perfect for chilly days.
Thanks Amy! It is a good one!
So creamy and delicious! Love the addition of the crab – that makes it so elegant and extra special!
Thanks Kelly! It is definitely creamy and delicious!
There’s nothing better than a good seafood bisque and a loaf of crusty bread. This looks wonderful. I love the seasoning profile. Crab is lovely, but extremly expensive here so I might just top it with small bay shrimp. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Ron! Crab is quite expensive but bay shrimp or even bay scallops could be substituted. Happy Holidays Ron!
Temptation would make me lean towards using Trader Joe’s tomato soup and making it an instant dish. But your prep sounds absolutely delightful!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thank Mae! If you really want something VERY quick and easy, hen the TJs soup would be the way to go. 🙂
What an alluring soup! First, I’ve never made a tomato bisque with a seafood stock, That alone sounds great. But then adding crab? Heck yeah! Topping it off with a finishing oil is just brilliant.
Thanks Jeff! I love using seafood stock. Aside from being just downright easy to make, it’s got such a great flavor.
Tomato does it for me, your bisque with all that good crab meat looks delicious. I’d love to make that soon! thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Pam! Using the tomato bisque made it a lot less rich as well as yielding a totally unique flavor from a normal crab bisque. We certainly love it.
Can you believe I’ve never had crab? I would love to, but I have never even seen it being sold anywhere around here… So sad! I would love to try this soup.
Actually, the fact that you’ve never eaten crab is unbelievable. You don’t know what you’re missing, 🙂 I’m not sure how this would be with shrimp, but it would probably work with a nice white fish if you could that. Anyway, thanks for your comment Adina!
spicy and creamy and crab! oh yum! delicious…
Thanks Sherry! Happy Holidays!
Oh my goodness, this looks incredible MJ – so festive too, a holiday showstopper (love the look of the finishing oil). I want this on my Christmas menu! A masterpiece my friend. btw, love Marzia’s blog, her recipes are so delicious (have made her creamy chicken piccata a couple times).
Thanks Kelly! I hope you and your family enjoy it. I need to explore more of Marzia’s blog, especially now her chicken piccata. YUM! Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!
Absolutely beautiful MJ ! Will do this weekend ! Sounds delicious ! 🙂
Thanks Davorka! Hope you enjoy it!
Beautiful recipe MJ! My mouth is watering… I love tomato bisque (I have a Peruvian version on my website). I love the idea of lump crab and NM red chile oil drizzle on top! I’m looking forward to giving this a whirl. Merry Christmas!
Thanks Tamara! I think I remember your Peruvian version, but I’ll check it out again. I’m sure it’s good, like everything you make. Merry Christmas to you as well!
MJ, this recipe inspires me to make some sourdough to dip in such a delicious soup. Beautiful too! You hit it out of the park with this one. 🙂
Thanks Judy! Sourdough is an excellent dipper for any soup. 🙂
Drooling on our keyboard over here!!! Love crab and bisque. What is not to love with this delicious soup. Warm and cozy and perfect for sharing. Saving to all of our favorite boards.
Thanks Bobbi! Thanks for sharing as well! Have a wonderful holiday!
This is gorgeous and has crab! I love crab! Now I am hungry and craving this!
Thanks Abbe! Crab is hard to beat and goes so well in this tomato bisque.
Tomato-based soups are excellent. Like the idea of using canned fire-roasted tomatoes. I’m also starting to change my cooking habits to easier and less fussy (well, not all the time, but I’m getting there!). Anyway, this is a terrific recipe — great way to use crab. Thanks!
Thanks John! Yep, the fire=roasted tomatoes really cut the time down on making a bisque and I find the flavor just as good.
I agree, MJ, there’s nothing quite like tomato bisque soup. I wish so bad that I could taste it with crab, but alas, an adult-onset allergy prevents that. But in my memory, I can imagine and therefore greatly understand how delicious it must be. When I don’t have any jarred tomatoes left, I’ll need to take your advice and get some organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes. Great tip!!! Hope you’re having a beautiful Christmas season!
Thanks Roz! So sorry you can’t eat crab any longer. It’s amazing how our bodies shift around. I wasn’t able to eat avocados until at 15 years ago. Weird. You know you could just use a vegetable of chicken stock with the tomato bisque. The bisque is quite good on it’s own. 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful holiday season as well.
Creamy and comforting…the tomato bisque with crab topping looks absolutely gorgeous, MJ.
Thanks Angie!
My this sounds and looks delicious! So many flavors going on, love the spices you chose for the bisque. I’m going to remember your method of saving the basil at end of the season, what a great idea!
Thanks Jan! It does have a lot of different flavors that blend to a wonderful finish. Putting up basil in a puree is so much easier than making a bunch of pesto and easy to break pieces off as you need them.
This was so very good, MJ. Thank you for your creative cooking endeavors and sharing these recipes. Love, b
Thank you Darlin! I’m so glad you enjoy them! XOXO