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How to Make a Scallop Bisque with Sage

Seafood Soups

A scallop bisque is a rarity in the bisque world. You don’t see it much, if ever, on restaurant menus. Let’s face it, 99% of all bisques made in restaurants are lobster bisque. I’ll take an educated guess and say you’ve never tried a scallop bisque before. Me neither until I made this recipe.

scallop bisque

The verdict?

An unequivocal HELL. YEAH.

I could not believe how magnificent it turned out! And, as opposed to lobster, it’s actually quite easy to make into a bisque.

Scallop Bisque vs. Lobster Bisque

Now technically, a true bisque is made from crustaceans such as lobsters, whose shells are used to make a stock. It’s the stock, simmered with aromatic vegetables, wine, and seasonings that’s the real heart and soul of a bisque. But lobster bisque, as wonderful as it is, is not a simple thing to make. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the more difficult seafood soup recipes to make at home.

You need to steam the live lobsters first (not for the squeamish), shell them (a royal pain in the ass), and then make a lobster stock from the shells. It’s time-intensive and messy, to say the least. As an example, have you ever seen Julia Child’s famous recipe for lobster bisque? Be prepared to spend at a very minimum, an entire afternoon in the kitchen.

While I’ll include a lobster bisque recipe in my New England Soups from the Sea cookbook, I also wanted to feature some simpler bisque recipes too. Sea scallops, with their large, sweet, buttery meats are so much easier to make into a bisque because they always come shelled at the store.

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All you need to do is add them to a pre-made shellfish stock, such as bottled clam juice, cook them with some veggies and white rice, puree it all together, and then add additional herbs, cream, and seasonings. From start to finish, you can have it ready within a half-hour, easily.

In my recipe, I tried out a variety of different herbs including parsley, thyme, basil, and savory. But nothing compared to sage. Its pungent pine-like aroma and earthy taste beautifully harmonized with the sweet ocean flavor of sea scallops. The end result was this fragrant, silky, and luxurious scallop bisque recipe.

More Bisque Recipes to Try

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need

Scallop Bisque with Sage Full Recipe

scallop bisque

Scallop Bisque with Sage

This scallops bisque recipe is one of the simplest seafood bisques. Simply combine the scallops with shellfish stock, puree it all together and add additional herbs, cream and seasonings. You can have it all ready within a half hour, easily. 

Course Soup
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Author Craig Fear

Ingredients

  • 4 TBSPs unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1 stalk carrot
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 ½ pound sea scallops
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 4 cups lobster broth or clam juice
  • ¼ cup white rice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1-2 cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup fresh sage about 8 to 10 leaves, loosely packed and chopped
  • Sea salt to taste

Optional seasonings, to taste

Instructions

  1. Melt butter over medium heat in a medium-sized stock pot and add onion, carrot and celery and saute about 5 minutes until softened and fragrant.
  2. Roughly chop 1 pound of sea scallops (reserve the other ½ pound), add to the veggies and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add white wine and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
  4. Add stock and white rice. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a steady simmer and cook for about 12-15 minutes or until rice is cooked.
  5. While rice is cooking, in a separate pan, sear the remaining ½ pound of scallops in butter or oil, a few minutes per side until browned, and cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

  6. When rice is cooked through, add sage and remove the stockpot from the stove top. Puree the bisque with a handheld immersion blender. Be very careful not to splatter hot soup!
  7. Add 1 cup of cream and stir in. Add salt, to taste. Add up to 1 more cup of cream, if desired.
  8. Ladle into individual bowls and add optional seasonings, to taste. Add 1 or 2 of the reserved scallops to each bowl.
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How to Make a Scallop Bisque with Sage
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About the Author

Craig Fear is the creator of Fearless Eating and the author of three books, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, Fearless Broths and Soups and The Thai Soup Secret. After years helping clients with digestive issues, Craig decided to pursue writing full-time. He intends to write many more books on broths and soups from around the world! Click here to learn more about Craig.

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