Justine Sterling
Did you know you can get really good lobster bisque from the grocery store? You can be a fancy little lad or lass with a big bowl of lobster bisque without ever leaving your home or putting on a shirt. I tasted all the lobster bisque I could find at the grocery store (with a shirt on) and I found three lobster bisques worth buying.
What is lobster bisque?
We have a whole deep dive on the definition of a bisque, but the TL;DR is that bisque is creamy, French, seafood soup. And lobster bisque, specifically, is a bisque made with lobster.
You cook the lobster and the lobster shells to get the most lobster flavor possible. Then you set the meat aside and cook the lobster shells more with some butter and wine and some diced onions, carrots, and celery. Add some cream, simmer, and strain. Voila, bisque. Some lobster bisques are perfectly smooth, others include some little bits of lobster.
What we looked for in the best lobster bisque soup:
- Creamy texture. At its essence, a bisque is a creamy soup. So, the best store bought lobster bisque better be creamy. I want it to coat a spoon.
- Lobster flavor. It’s lobster bisque. It should taste like lobster. Not shrimp. Lobster.
- Good seasoning. Lobster bisque can lean sweet, but the best lobster bisque is seasoned so that there’s a balance of sweet and savory.
Best Store Bought Lobster Bisque, Ranked
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- Whole Foods Lobster Bisque
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Whole Foods lobster bisque is extremely creamy and extremely thick. Seriously, this stuff is dec-a-dent. It’s a little bit sweet and really tastes like lobster shells. I’ve never personally bitten into a lobster shell, so don’t ask me how I know. But there’s a deep lobster essence that goes beyond lobster meat. Personally, I would have liked a bit more salt, but the luxurious quality of this lobster bisque cannot be denied.
Credit: Merc / Whole Foods
- Blount Clam Shack Lobster Bisque
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We’re fans of Blount Clam Shack around these parts. We love their clam chowder and they make the only acceptable store bought gumbo available. And their lobster bisque is no slouch, either. It’s super creamy and nicely savory. Plus, you get some little bits of lobster in the mix. It’s really delicious, so why isn’t it number one? It’s the priciest of all the lobster bisques we tried and not so good that the price tag can be ignored. Still, if you don’t shop at Trader Joe’s (spoiler alert) this is the best lobster bisque to buy.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Trader Joe’s Lobster Bisque
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Yes, Trader Joe’s makes the best lobster bisque soup—it’s also one of our favorite Trader Joe’s soups, overall. It’s crazy creamy and really savory with lots of little bits of lobster. It’s extremely rich, too, and almost buttery. It’s downright indulgent as hell. And, while it’s obviously delicious sipped on its own, it also makes for a really good pasta sauce. Plus, it’s affordable. Trader Joe’s, you’ve done it again.
Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s
Best Super Creamy
Runner-Up
Best of the Best
Other lobster bisques we tried:
Panera, Signature Select
Ariana Losch
Sporked Staff
