Vegan Lobster Bisque
Today is an amazing day, because we’re just a lil over a week into the new year and I’ve already crushed so many bucket list recipes I’ve been meaning to get to. One of them, was this staple vegan Lobster Bisque!
While many things can be replicated to be vegan, there are some things that are just a struggle. Seafood is one them! You can make a Chickpea Tuna Salad, Seared Mushroom Scallops, a vegan crab cake (one of my other faves) and one of my all time faves, a Lobster Roll! Believe it or not, there wasn’t a vegan lobster roll on the internet when it was created. Now you can find this staple recipe on Buzzfeed!
For a long time I thought to myself, you can’t create a vegan Lobster Bisque. It will require random ingredients, and or the texture and flavor will be compromised. However, low and behold that can’t be further from the truth.
The biggest challenge is deriving a seafood like flavor for the dish. I thought to myself, perhaps you could incorporate chickpeas somehow as the brine is somewhat seafood like, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Not only is it accessible and affordable, but seaweed has a seafood like flavor! Ran ther than throwing it in the soup, I thought you could easily infuse the broth and remove it, and boom..
the vegan Lobster Bisque was born and my life is complete!
To replicate a lobster like texture, I love to use hearts of palm like I do in the Lobster Roll recipe I have. It of course pairs perfectly with this soup and just puts it over the top!
What’s fab about this recipe, is everything! It’s quick, easy, affordable, perf for any season, can easily be made in bulk, great for entertaining, perf as a meal or side dish, features staple ingredients, you can add more seaweed to amplify the seafood like flavor, you can modify the consistency, it’s rich, creamy, packed with protein from the cashews, packed with flavor, and can even turn a non vegan head over heels for this dish! promise!
If you’ve been longing for this dish or simply love innovative vegan concepts, brace yourself, you’re going to love this vegan Lobster Bisque!!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Affordable
Features staple ingredients
Veggie packed
Packed with plant protein
Packed with flavor
Great for any season!
Vegan Lobster Bisque
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Ingredients
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 sheet seaweed, (sushi roll size)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 4 large shallots, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 4 large celery ribs, diced
- 1 cup cashews, raw
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tsp Old Bay
- Pinch of cayenne (optional)
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped (garnish)
- 1 can Hearts of Palm
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat add the broth and seaweed.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, 10 mins. Remove the seaweed. Set aside.
- In another large pot over medium heat add the vegan butter, shallots, carrots, garlic, celery, old bay, Worcestershire, smoked paprika, thyme, cayenne, salt/pepper, and cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, cook for an additional 4, continually stirring.
- Add the wine to deglaze the pot, bring to simmer, then reduce to low heat, cook for another 5-7 minutes.
- Now add the seaweed infused broth, bay leaf, almond milk, and cashews.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, 10 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf and throw in a blender. Blend until smooth. Garnish heart of palm, chopped chives and Old Bay.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
What kind of blender do you use? I couldn’t get the soup quote as smooth in my food processor but it was still really tasty! I want sure what to do with the hearts of palm based on the recipe so I just chopped them up and added them after blending the rest of the ingredients.
I use a Vitamix, it blends the best!
This is DELICIOUS. I had to make a couple changes based on what I had, but it was perfect because I had exactly 4 shallots, 4 ribs of celery, and 2 tbsp of tomato paste that really needed using up. What are the chances?
Had to leave out the optional smoked paprika/Worcestershire and make my own Old Bay with a pinch of celery seed, paprika and cayenne. I also had to use a little splash of vodka to deglaze because I didn’t have white wine.
I didn’t serve with the hearts of palm, just with saltine crackers, but it’s soooo tasty and comforting. Thanks very much. This is the first of your recipes I’ve tried.
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing! Awesome!
I noticed a couple of things with the instructions: 1) When to put the bay leaves in, and 2) Use the large pot for the second pot (not the first).
Thanks again for bringing lobster bisque back in my life.
Thanks for catching that Joe! For the bay leaf you want to add it when you have the full soup contents together. Simmer to let the flavors infuse, then puree the soup. I’ve updated the recipe to convey that. Glad you liked the soup, it’s truly one of my favorites!
Do you really need 2 cans of heart of palm for just garnish? Or id it used in the stock ? Can’t find it elsewhere in the recepy
Hi Loes, You can get away with 1 can, but you can absolutely add more. It’s just about preference. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Gabrielle!
This looks very tastful!
I can hardly wait to make this.
Is there any alternative to using Cashews?
I need to be nut free.
Thanks in advance!
Hi There, The cashews really create the best texture for this soup. Perhaps you could us seeds or silken tofu perhaps? Let me know what you use!
This is my new favorite fall vegan soup! The nori infused vegetable broth combined with the sautéed veggies and spices is simply divine. I blended mine in my bullet blender to get it as smooth as possible. I could also see heating water to boiling and soaking the cashews for 10 minutes to help get a smoother blend. Thank you for this marvelous addition to our soup rotation!
Hi Rebecca! Thanks for sharing! It’s one of my top favorite recipes out of hundreds that I’ve made. SO GOOD.