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Crawfish Bisque Recipe

Louisiana’s pot of gold! This stuff is so good! Imagine using the crawfish from a boil to make a silky, flavor packed stock. Then, add the stock to a perfect roux. Yes there’s more…just read on.
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 4 hours
Servings 7 people

Ingredients

Stock:

  • 4-5 lbs boiled crawfish
  • 10 cups water

Stuffed Crawfish Heads:

  • 50-60 crawfish heads
  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 lb peeled crawfish tails
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 TBS minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • Cajun or Creole seasoning to taste
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 lb lump crabmeat optional

Bisque:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 TBS minced garlic
  • 1/3 cup chopped green onions
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 8 cups crawfish stock*
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • Cajun or Creole seasoning to taste
  • 1 TBS liquid crab and shrimp boil concentrate
  • Remaining crawfish tails
  • Fresh parsley to garnish
  • Warm white rice for serving

Instructions

Stock:

  1. Peel all of the crawfish; reserve the heads, peelings, and tail meat in separate bowls
  2. Remove all of the cartilage and claws from the heads and add it to the rest of the peelings
  3. Reserve the empty heads and the tail meat.
  4. Add the peelings and claws into a large stock pot.
  5. Pour in 10-12 cups of water.
  6. Bring to a boil.
  7. Lower the heat to a simmer.
  8. Simmer for about 1 hour.
  9. Skim off the foam from the top of the stock then drain the stock into a bowl.
  10. Discharge the peelings and claws.
  11. Reserve the stock.

Stuffed Crawfish Heads:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  2. Rinse the empty crawfish heads well; pat dry and set aside.
  3. In a food processor, finely chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and green onions.
  4. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the veggie mix for 5 minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool at room temp.
  6. Add the 2 lbs of crawfish tails into the food processor and pulse until the tails are finely chopped.
  7. In a mixing bowl, combine the veggie/butter mix, finely chopped crawfish tails, and breadcrumbs.
  8. Mix well.
  9. Taste and add Cajun or Creole seasoning as needed.
  10. Stir in the beaten egg.
  11. Then, gently fold in the crabmeat.
  12. Add the stuffing into a piping bag and fill each empty crawfish heads with the stuffing.
  13. Place the stuffed heads on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes.

Bisque:

  1. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and green onions into a food processor and blend until finely chopped
  2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottom stock pot.
  3. When the oil is hot, whisk in the flour to make the roux. (Do NOT walk away! The roux will burn if the heat is too hot and you do not stir constantly.)
  4. Continue stirring until the roux is the color of peanut butter.
  5. Add in the finely chopped veggies.
  6. Sauté for 5 minutes.
  7. Stir in the tomato paste until well combined.
  8. Pour in the reserved crawfish stock, stir, and bring to a simmer
  9. Toss the remaining crawfish tails in the liquid crab boil
  10. Then, add the crawfish tails into the pot.
  11. Stir in the onion and garlic powders
  12. Reduce the heat to LOW and simmer, uncovered for 20 mins.
  13. Add in the baked, stuffed crawfish heads.
  14. Continue to simmer for 10-20 more minutes.
  15. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
  16. Serve over warm white rice and garnish with fresh, chopped green onions.
  17. Enjoy!