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Jun 18, 2021

Smoked Salmon Bisque

This smoked salmon bisque is flavored with both fresh and smoked salmon. Although it's an elegant soup with lots of complex flavors, it is super simple to make. 

Smoked salmon soup




This salmon soup is creamy and smokey, with so many complex flavors. 

For the smoked salmon in the bisque, if you can, be sure to use hot smoked salmon (as opposed to cold smoked salmon). It typically looks like a salmon filet. I like to buy the flavored hot smoked salmon that our local grocery store carries. For this soup, I used the barbecue flavor, but any flavor will do. 

If you can only find cold smoked salmon, definitely feel free to use that. Your bisque will just taste a little less smokey. 

Frozen salmon for salmon bisque



For the fresh salmon, I've suddenly become a fan of flash-frozen fish from the grocery store. It's actually really good. If is is frozen correctly, it can actually taste fresher than the fish you buy at the fish counter. 

Just be sure to follow the thawing instructions on the package. 

For this soup, I actually partially thawed the salmon filets until I could cut them into pieces and added them to the pot. 



Bisque with smoked and fresh salmon




Ingredients you will need for this salmon bisque (beside the salmon)... 


Herbs and Spices:

  • For the herbs, you will need fresh parsley, fresh dill, and fresh cilantro. 
  • For spices, you will need salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper, plus one of my favorite seafood seasonings, Old Bay

Vegetables:

  • Fresh leeks, yellow onion, fresh mushrooms, and fresh garlic, which you sauté in butter. 
  • Canned tomatoes, which you break up as you add them to the soup. They add so much to the soup. 

For the soup base:

  • First, you will need a fish-based broth. You can use clam juice or homemade shellfish stock. I had some shrimp stock in my freezer and made up the difference with clam juice. 
  • Tip: everytime you buy shrimp, buy it in its shells, whether or not you need them. Save them in the freezer for making stock. So good. 
  • If you are in a pinch, vegetable or chicken broth will work too. 
  • You will also need a mixture of milk and cream, or half and half if you have it. 


Smoked salmon bisque




How to make this salmon bisque:

First, sauté the veggies in butter in a Dutch oven until they are softened. Once they are softened, stir in some flour and cook the mixture until the flour is cooked thoroughly and loses it's "floury" taste. 

Next, add the broth, smoked salmon, tomatoes, herbs, and spices. 

After that, add the cream and milk, cook until heated, and then add the fresh salmon and cook for about five minutes. 

Finally, blend the soup in a blender with an immersion blender. 

For a chunkier soup, blend just half of of the mixture. 



Bisque with smoked and fresh salmon and smoked salmon




I finished this soup with a dash or sherry vinegar and more fresh dill. You could also garnish it with some capers, a dash of sour cream or whipped cream cheese, and a few bagel chips for croutons. How fun is that! 

You can make this bisque in advance and reheat it the next day. I loved dipping toasted Montreal bagels in the soup for lunch. 

So good. 


Welcome to this month's Fish Friday Foodies! Our theme is Shortcut Seafood. 




Smoked salmon bisque





Smoked Salmon Bisque

Smoked Salmon Bisque
Yield: 10 servings
Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
This smoked salmon bisque is flavored with both fresh and smoked salmon. Although it's an elegant soup with lots of complex flavors, it is super simple to make.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped yellow or brown onion
  • 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 quart clam juice, fish stock, shrimp stock, or vegetable stock
  • 4 ounces hot smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
  • 1 28-ounce canned whole tomatoes, drained
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 cup cream plus 1 cup milk, or 2 cups half and half
  • 12 ounces fresh salmon filets
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a 6 quart Dutch oven or saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks, onions, mushrooms, and garlic and cook until softened and browned, about 7 minutes. 
  2. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. 
  3. Add the stock/clam juice, smoked salmon, tomatoes (break up the tomatoes as you add them), parsley, cilantro, dill, peppers, and Old Bay seasoning. Cook until heated through. 
  4. Whisk in the milk and cream (or half and half). 
  5. Stir in the fresh salmon and cook for five minutes. 
  6. Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. You can either blend all of the ingredients for a smooth bisque, or just blend half for a chunkier soup. 

Nutrition Facts

Calories

335.93

Fat (grams)

24.29

Sat. Fat (grams)

13.21

Carbs (grams)

14.68

Fiber (grams)

2.44

Net carbs

12.25

Sugar (grams)

7.11

Protein (grams)

16.08

Sodium (milligrams)

911.80

Cholesterol (grams)

86.92
soup, bisque, seafood
Soup
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Created using The Recipes Generator



This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes

Would you like to comment?

  1. Oh my word....this soup sounds perfect. I love smoked salmon and just bought some fillets to try my hand at smoking them on my Traeger. If I have any left I am putting it in this soup.

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    1. Well, I'm kind of jelly of your Traeger..

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  2. Keeping salmon, cod, and shrimp in my freezer has become a staple for me. It makes seafood so quick and easy and it tastes delicious! I am always enthralled with how quickly seafood dishes come together. This bisque looks SO cozy and comfy!

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    Replies
    1. I completely agree with you about freezer fish!

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  3. At the supermarket last week, I almost bought some hot smoked salmon because it had an interesting marinade, maybe even barbecue, but then I put it back because I didn't have a plan and I've been trying to have a plan before I buy something. Your bisque looks wonderful, Karen, so now hot smoked salmon is on the shopping list!

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    Replies
    1. I have it for breakfast on bagels with cream cheese all. the. time!

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  4. This makes a fabulous quick and easy meal, loved the creaminess of the soup!

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  5. I made this the other day and my LORD it is so delicious! I omitted the cilantro as I’m not a fan of that herb. So good so good thank you so much for the recipe!

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  6. Love this recipe! Have you tried to freeze this bisque? There are only two of us, and l like to keep my freezer stocked with soups.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't tried it but I'm pretty sure it would work.

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