Roasted red pepper bisque with shrimp is dairy free, paleo, Whole 30 compliant, and totally delicious! A spicy bisque with healing, immunity boosting nutrients. Perfect for cold weather or when you’re under the weather! Also a great way to get veggies into your meal. Nourish your family, feed your friends, or enjoy this robust roasted red pepper bisque recipe all to yourself.
I’m really sure many people can justify a thick bisque soup recipe as being “healing,” but I’m going with it because gosh darn it, real food CAN DO wonders. That being said, this roasted red pepper bisque Cotter Creation is brought to you by the letter c… CAPITAL C! A CREAMY soup with spicy shrimp. A Cozy, Comforting, Vitamin C rich, Cold and Cough Curing, Clear your sinuses bowl of COMFORT… that’s also paleo, whole 30 friendly, dairy free, and all the things healthy. Yes yes, but that wasn’t my main focus here, albeit it is a bonus benefit.
The real focus of this red pepper bisque recipe is on the MEGA dose of Vitamin C.
No, really. I’ll explain.
Mr. Cotter, the Kiwi, was sick ALL weekend. Coughing, Cold, Congestion, etc. C where I’m going with this? Bahaha, my puns, sorry, they slip in.
Poor guy. I think life caught up to us one at a time. I got sick right before the move, he got sick after. But at least one of us was healthy enough to take care of each other during, ya know?
Anyway, the red pepper bisque is my HEALING soup (errr bisque?) packed with lean and mean spicy (protein rich) shrimp, that mega dose of Vitamin C red pepper, and creamy coconut MCT fats. Not to mention broth with healing herbs and spices.
Dude, if you are not breathing fresh and cured of all COLD and SICKNESS by the time you finish this soup, then your doomed. I’m kidding. Kinda.
Honest to goodness, this is our healing soup. Creamy, spicy, savory, and a little sweet. But the power of this dish lies beyond the flavors. Get ready to be NERDIFIED (it’s a word, I swear).
Just one red bell pepper contains 169% of the RDA for vitamin C, making it one of the BEST REAL FOOD sources of this nutrient. HOLLAH! Immunity boosting Vitamin C for the win.
Okay here’s where I nerd out a bit. You see, red bell peppers are packed with plant carotenoids (antioxidants). One of them is called luteolin. You knew that though, right? Well you do now. Cause luteolin is pretty badass.
Luteolin and quercetin (another antioxidant in red peppers) are mast cell stabilizing compounds for histamine. Meaning, they can help control the release of it. You know, the histamine that causes inflammation in the body and airways.
Also, side note: roasted red pepper is also badass. Look at this beauty! Just sayin.
Hang with me here. Back to nerd talk and bisque.
So this means Luteolin could alleviate bronchial inflammation. As in periodic “attacks” of coughing, wheezing, congestion. NOW YOU SEE IT?!! YES Vitamin C for Immunity! And Luteolin for reducing inflammation, cough, congestion. Ya’ll, the power of food. I get giddy. It’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!
HOW TO MAKE ROASTED RED PEPPER BISQUE:
Now, get into the kitchen and make a batch of roasted red pepper bisque with shrimp!
PrintHealing Roasted Red Pepper Shrimp Bisque + VIDEO
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
Description
Healing Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with Shrimp {Whole 30 friendly, Dairy Free, and Paleo}
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 medium red bell peppers
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- Salt/pepper (1/4 tsp & to taste)
- 1 shallot or 3/4 c sliced/chopped
- 6–8 oz peeled shrimp (without tail). We buy sizzlefish. See notes for link.
- 1 tbsp water
- 15 oz light coconut milk
- 2 c chicken broth
- 2 tbsp tapioca or potato starch to thicken
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (use less if you don’t want as spicy)
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Fresh Cilantro and extra spicy pepper (like jalapeno) to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 F.
- Place red bell pepper(s) on baking sheet.
- Roast peppers at 475 F for 10 minutes rotating to each side, about 15-20 minutes total
- Broil last 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool. Remove skin from peppers and slice off the stem.
In the Soup Pot:
- 1 tbsp oil plus your garlic & shallot.
- Saute on medium until fragrant. Add in the peeled shrimp and water.
- Cook on medium until shrimp are pink and no longer translucent. Should not take more than 6-8 minutes if shrimp are medium size. (for quick option you can use precooked shrimp & add it thawed at end of cooking bisque).
- Add in your salt/pepper. Stir all together.
- Remove shrimp, place in bowl or plate.
- Next add in the coconut milk, broth, seasonings, and starch to the pot. Lightly simmer and mix all together for about 5 minutes. (reduce the amount of red pepper flakes and cayenne for less spicy)
- Place liquid and roasted red pepper in high speed blender or use an immersion hand blender.*
- Blend until creamy.
- Add the soup back to stock pot. Bring to light boil. Reduce 10-20 minutes.
- Add shrimp back in last and keep warm until ready to serve.
- Serve and garnish with fresh cilantro and extra peppers if desired i.e. jalapenos.
- Season each bowl with more salt/pepper and red chili flakes to taste.
Notes
- A hand blender will work well but we LOVE using this new Vitamix blender for extra creamy soups.
- Vegan option just replace the shrimp with tofu or tempeh, or leave out.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: main
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 5.7g
- Sodium: 414.9mg
- Fat: 11.2g
- Saturated Fat: 5.7g
- Carbohydrates: 13.5g
- Fiber: 1.3g
- Protein: 9.2g
- Cholesterol: 56.9mg
Keywords: shrimp bisque, dairy free soup, roasted red pepper soup, whole30, paleo
I suggest you grab a bowl and filler up! Healing Soup/Bisque to start the week. I think you might need 2 bowls considering it’s post super bowl festivities.
OH MY! Did I bore you? Not to worry, I have this super tasty and easy Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with Shrimp ready for ya! This recipe is gonna rock your world. I mean it’s gonna COMPLETE your life, cure your cold, comfort your soul. Like whoa… Complete with a Capital C!
Favorite healing soup? Ever roasted red pepper?
Cheers!
LC
The coconut flavor was good for me, hubby thought it was A bit overwhelming, added a little salt. I served it over rice. Very good next time I will add the full 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Thank you for sharing
★★★★
Thanks for the feedback Gean! I appreciate the tips.
The low format diet says not to use garlic and onions at all – even powders. Anything else you would recommend using instead of those?
I’ve used garlic and onion infused oil before. That should be allowed on low fodmap. Have you tried that? Check out Fody Foods!
Very tasty, but suggest you include a heat warning. I like spicy food and I did not use the red pepper flakes. A tsp of cayenne was a 3 of 5 for heat. I’m glad I eliminated the RPF. Also, how can I print without the buttons in the left margin appearing? It blocks part of the text.
★★★★★
Oh glad to hear! Can you send me a screenshot of what you’re seeing when you print? email is lindsay@cottercrunch.com
xoxo
OMG This soup is sooooooo yummy! It might be the best thing I’ve ever cooked, no exaggeration. Following on you on instagram now…
★★★★★
ps…I skipped the starch and just cooked it down a bit to thicken.
★★★★★
Oh good to know! thanks for your feedback Sarah!
This was delicious
Used chicken instead of shrimp. Did not use the mustard. Was fine.
Needs the cilantro though, in my opinion, so if you don’t like cilantro ……
★★★★★
Awesome recipe and easy for a nerd who does not enjoy cooking. I did some variations like: organic safflower lethicin and kosher pectin powder for the emulsifier and added some turmeric bone broth to supplement the chicken broth. It was tasty and definately full of nutrients!
★★★★★
Love it! extra nutrients for the win!
I make this recipe all the time and just want to say thanks!
★★★★★
I’m so glad! Thank you for taking your time to comment and tell me Caitlyn
Wow amazing! I’m always looking for new Paleo dishes. I have people in my family that don’t like bell pepper or spice but with all these great comments I gave it a try anyways. Everyone loved it! I did about 1/2 the spice level and it was just perfect for my “non spicy lovers” in the family. Thanks so much! This will be a come back meal for me!
★★★★★
I’m so glad! Love that the whole family liked it. Thanks for the feedback shannon!
I looked over and back over this recipe, as I made and afterwards, and still can’t find why I did wrong.
Not only was the soup not a red/orange color, it was so spicy I couldn’t handle it and it was very watery.
The only subs I made were to the level of spicy as well as utilizing tapioca instead of cornstarch.
Any feedback.??! ?
★
Oh no! Okay let me think. What type of coconut milk did you use? Was the water part of the can added vs just solid portion? Or did you use coconut drinking milk? I’m determined to help remedy this Devon ?
Very good! Lovely flavor.
★★★★★
This is my favorite recipe whenever I’m on my Whole30 kick. Thank you so much for creating this! When I make it, I usually add a sweet potato & double the peppers for a chunkier feel 🙂
★★★★★
That’s so great to hear, Katie! That sounds delicious, love those adjustments!
This soup was fantastic! So flavorful
★★★★★
This is basically a sweet and sour soup. Not a fan. Happy I read the comments and dialed (way) down the spices.
★★
Really? Sorry to hear that. did you use red pepper flakes? Happy to help fix this for you!
Hi Lindsay! It’s just my personal taste. It’s very coconut flavored (duh!) and not for me. I’m guessing that for Thai food lovers it will be a hit! I used just a little bit of red peppers flakes and it was more than enough for me. Still happy I tried it!
Got it! Understand and thanks for feedback. I have tried this with rice and almond milk. It’s not as creamy but it has less coconut taste that way. If you can handle real cream, go for it!
oops, I meant HOT and sour soup.
I’ve made the soup again and it really grew on me! Now I love it, ahah!! I still put less spices. And I had loooots of shrimps. Yum!!
★★★★★
Mmm that’s the way to go! It definitely has some heat? happy you found a level that you like!❤️
I cut the spices in half and still too spicy for my taste…what can I do to reduce the heat in the rest of it?
Oh no! So sorry. Did you omit the red pepper flakes too? I would just sprinkle those on top, sparingly, to cut back on spice
Oh sorry I misunderstood. I would add more cream or broth and garlic to season.
I LOVE this recipe. I live in Kenya and this soup is perfect, especially on these cold wintery nights! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Oh yay! So glad. Thanks for sharing that with us Kate!
1 tbsp oil plus your garlic & shallot.
Sautee on medium until fragrant. Add in the peeled shrimp and water.
This was written this way.
thanks Kim!
Made this shrimp soup this week (used just over half of the cayenne and hot pepper flakes, no bbq sauce and 2 bell peppers) and my husband and I loved it. Hub said it tasted way better than what is served at specialty soup restaurants in downtown Toronto that he has frequented. Another of yours has made it into our regular rounds 🙂 Thanks for what you do!!
★★★★★
Oh this makes me so happy Alicia! Thank you for that wonderful feedback. I appreciate it!
Made this as written and it made two dinner size servings. To get 4-5, it will be very small cups. I ate it as a meal.
Thanks for the update. So strange, it made 3-5 large bowls for us I will for sure put that in the notes. I appreciate the feedback Stacy
Looks delicious – can’t wait to make it. Question – when you roast the red pepper, do you take the seeds out first? Or after? Or do you leave them in and blend the whole thing? Thanks!
I roasted the peppers whole, then you peel them after, discard to core, top, and then blend. I kept some seeds in but the ones that were hanging out after I pulled the core out, I just discarded. Does that make sense?
this is US recipe. But 2 cups is around 475-500ml. Does that help?
Wow!!! I made this tonight and my picky 10 yr old finished her bowl. I did make a couple of substitutions for things I had on hand. I used red onion instead of shallots. I didn’t have either of the starches, so I added some roasted sweet potato and cornstarch. I used less of the cayenne and crushed red pepper since my child doesn’t like spicy foods. I added more to my own bowl and it was excellent!! I think I will add more shrimp and use 2 roasted red bell peppers next time. Thanks for the wonderful and healthy recipe.
★★★★★
Oh yum!! Love the roasted sweet potato addition! Thanks for feed back stephanie!
Just made this and it is delicious!! It was perfect for this dreary weather we are having. I followed the recipe without substitutions and the spice was the perfect level for us. I did not add the bbq sauce though. Will definitely be making again!
★★★★★
Wonderful! So glad! It’s even better the next day (with spices), in my opinion. Thanks for the feedback Gina!
Would it b suitable to sub almond milk for the coconut milk? And when you mean coconut milk do you mean the caned kind that’s usually in the consistency of cranberry sauce for example?
You can! I used canned coconut milk light from Thai kitchen, but I think almond milk would work, Just not as creamy, if that makes sense?
This is the best soup I’ve ever eaten. I sort of want to take a bath in it. Oh. My. Heavens. So good.
Wonderful! So glad. I agree! I made it this week again too hehe
If you are on an anti-inflamitory diet…then would red peppers not be restrictive as all nightshade foods are not allowed?
It depends on the person. Do you have an autoimmune condition? You could aways try roasted parsnip or carrot bisque. I have a recipe for that.
Wonderful! I will make this again and again. Thanks!
Hi, Sorry, what does the ddd mean in this step?
6. Next ddd in the coconut milk, broth, seasonings…
Oh good catch! That’s supposed to say add
I just made this tonight for my family, this recipe was amazing! Very flavorful, people in my family that aren’t fans of veggies loved it! I snuck in stone rusted sweet potatoes for some added veggies (and also because I didn’t have the starch and tapioca on have) and it still turned out great! Thanks for posting!!
Oh wonderful! So glad to hear Ashley! And I love the addition of sweet potatoes to thicken.
This may be a silly question, but after removing the shrimp from garlic/shallot water do you dump the water or add the coconut milk, broth, etc to the shrimp water?
Hi there! I don’t see where there is water added with the shrimp. All you do is sautee in the pan. Does that make sense? Happy to explain more if needed! No prob!
Oh my goodness, I’m so embarrassed haha! This is a friendly reminder to myself that I can not look up recipes and try to focus while having a two and three year old running around! #momprobs haha
1 tbsp oil plus your garlic & shallot.
Sautee on medium until fragrant. Add in the peeled shrimp and water.
This was written this way.
I usually like spicy foods but this soup is too spicy. Followed your exact recipe and was so disappointed it’s so spicy I didn’t get to taste the rest of the flavor of the soup!
sorry to hear that. I will definitely take notes and adjust in recipe. Thanks
Since I’m currently nursing a bit of a cold, I need this soup and all it’s C driven comfort stat!
Also roasted red peppers are glorious.
I think this soup would make ANYONE feel better 🙂
for sure!!
Haha – lady, I love ALL your puns! There sure is some nasty bug going around – even here in Atlanta! I’m taking some compooter classes and just about everyone has had a case of the 3 C’s – Coughing, Cold, Congestion – so, am needing this mega dose of Vitamin C soup!
seriously? did we all get the plague once our new president was elected? Haha, kidding. I know, I am bad.
YUM! I want a big bowl of this right NOW! 🙂
This soup looks so dreamy! I love that you toss humor and nutrition talk into all your posts. I love to geek out and laugh at your puns :). The Hubs has been sick all week too – I should probably make this soup for him! He loves roasted red pepper!
oh good! so glad someone can appreciate the puns. Haha!! Maybe your husband and my husband should hang out and be sick together and we can go do fun things. LOL!
Roasted red pepper is the bomb dot com, I love shrimp, and I love spice. Load me up.
Loading up coming your way. made with No rice. haha
Oh wow, this looks creamy and of course I love the nerdy nutrition!
we nerds gotta stick together! haha