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Bakso

Name: Bakso - Indonesian meatball soup
Prep time: 2 h 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 700 grams marrow bones (or beef shank); 1 litre water; 1 onion; 4 garlic cloves; 5 celery stalks; 1 cm fresh ginger (optional); 100 grams rice noodles; 100 grams egg noodles; 4 boiled eggs; 2 pak choi; spring onions; a splash of sweet soy sauce (ketjap) (for serving); sambal oelek (for serving); crispy fried onions (for serving); 500 grams minced beef; 3 garlic cloves; 1 teaspoon salt; 0.5 teaspoon white pepper; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 egg white; 100 grams tapioca flour (or cornstarch); 100 ml ice-cold water

Listen to this recipe

Bakso soup has a rich flavour thanks to the homemade broth and the well-known bakso meatballs. It takes a bit of time so all the flavours can develop, but it’s definitely worth it.

3 hours

4 persons

Main course

Lunch

Soup

Nutrition balance score

Unbalanced

2.7/10

Glycemic Index

Glycemic Load

22.42 (Low)

38.83 (High)

Nutrition per serving

Kcal

1293.62 kcal

Carbohydrates
Of which sugars

173.22 g
83.64 g

Total fat
Of which saturated fats

64.28 g
34.28 g

Proteins

46.97 g

Fiber

8.03 g

Sodium

1624.60 mg

View all nutrients

The meatballs in bakso soup have a springy texture. This texture is made by blending the meat in a food processor, as store-bought or butcher’s minced meat is not fine enough to create that signature elastic texture.

Tapioca flour is usually used to get that bouncy bite, but you can replace it with cornstarch if needed.

Traditionally, bakso soup is served with two kinds of noodles: rice noodles and egg noodles. But using just one kind also works because the soup will still be delicious.

Recipe bakso

Recipe bakso allergens

This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.

Made by Véronique

Published at 2025-05-28, this recipe is for 4 persons and takes 3 hours.

Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.

Updated at: 2025-09-02

Let's get started

Preparation time

2 hours 20 minutes

Time cooking

40 minutes

Total time

3 hours

Making the broth – 2 hours + 20 minutes

Roughly chop the onion and 4 garlic cloves, you don't even need to peel them first. If using ginger, slice it into thick pieces.

Wash the celery and chop it roughly.

Heat a large pot over high heat, without oil or butter, and fry the onion, garlic, celery and ginger for about 5 minutes. Add the marrow bones and sear them for a few minutes on both sides.

Pour in 2 litres of water and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer gently for 1.5 to 2 hours.

Scoop off any foam that floats to the top. Once the broth is rich in flavour, strain it and discard the bones and vegetables.

Making bakso meatballs – 20 minutes

Peel 3 garlic cloves and roughly chop them.

Add the minced meat, garlic and 1 teaspoon of fine salt to a food processor. Blend briefly, then add 100 ml ice-cold water and 1 egg white. Blend again until smooth and sticky.

Transfer the meat to a medium bowl. Season with 1 teaspoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of ground white pepper.

Add 100 grams of tapioca flour or cornstarch and knead until sticky. Wet your hands and roll small meatballs from the mixture.

Finishing the bakso soup – 20 minutes

Boil the eggs for about 6 minutes so they stay soft in the centre. Cool them under cold running water, then peel.

Slice the spring onions into rings and set aside.

Cook both types of noodles until done and divide them over the bowls. You can also prepare rice noodles by soaking them in boiling water until soft instead of cooking them.

Wash the pak choi and cut it into pieces. Cook it briefly in the broth until just tender, then add them to the bowls with the noodles.

Cook the meatballs in the broth and season the broth with salt and pepper.

Divide the meatballs among the bowls and pour the hot broth over everything.

Top with spring onion and a boiled egg sliced in halves. Serve with sweet soy sauce (ketjap), sambal and crispy fried onions. Enjoy!

Tips!

Can I make these meatballs without blending the minced meat?

You can skip blending the meat in a food processor, but the meatballs won’t have the typical elastic texture that bakso meatballs are known for.

Can I make bakso soup ahead of time?

You can make bakso soup ahead of time, but it’s best to store all the parts separately and cook or warm them up just before serving.

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Nutritional values

Per 1 serving / piece:

Pay attention! These indicated nutritional values are based on standard tables and are therefore an estimated total. No rights can be derived from the data in the nutritional value table.

General

Kcal

1293.62 kcal

Carbohydrates
Of which sugars

173.22 g
83.64 g

Total fat
Of which saturated fats

64.28 g
34.28 g

Proteins

46.97 g

Fiber

8.03 g

Sodium

1624.60 mg

Show vitamines & minerals

Minerals

Iron

5.60 mg

Calcium

255.05 mg

Magnesium

103.25 mg

Potassium

103.25 mg

Phosphorus

637.33 mg

Copper

0.32 mg

Zinc

8.64 mg

Iodine

0.25 µg

Selenium

15.43 µg

Vitamins

Vitamine C

84.17 mg

Vitamine D

1.38 mg

Vitamine A

62.23 mg

Vitamine B1

0.56 mg

Vitamine B2

0.87 mg

Vitamine B6

0.66 mg

Vitamine B12

1.05 µg

Folic acid

123.51 µg

Vitamine E

1.94 mg

Vitamine K

19.05 µg

Vitamine K1

0.00 µg

Handy! Scroll this table horizontally to see all nutritional values per ingredient

Amount		Ingredient	Allergens	Kcal	Carbs	Carbs of which sugars	Fat	Fat of which saturated	Protein	Fibers	Sodium	Iron	Calcium	Magnesium	Potassium	Phosphorus	Copper	Zinc	Iodine	Selenium	Vitamin C	Vitamin D	Vitamin A	Vitamin B1	Vitamin B2	Vitamin B6	Vitamin B12	Vitamin B11	Vitamin E	Vitamin K	Vitamin K1
175	gram	marrow bones		612.50	101.50 g	78.75 g	38.50 g	22.75 g	7.00 g	3.50 g	350.00 mg	1.40 mg	52.50 mg	35.00 mg	262.50 mg	140.00 mg	0.18 mg	0.88 mg	0.18 µg	8.75 µg	-	0.18 mg	17.50 mg	0.18 mg	0.35 mg	0.09 mg	0.18 µg	14.00 µg	1.75 mg	3.50 µg	-
0.25	litre	water		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.25		onion		11.25	1.91 g	1.91 g	0.06 g	0.03 g	0.38 g	0.78 g	2.81 mg	0.16 mg	9.38 mg	3.13 mg	54.69 mg	13.13 mg	0.03 mg	0.25 mg	-	-	2.03 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	0.01 mg	0.04 mg	-	3.13 µg	-	-	-
1	clove	garlic		4.20	0.84 g	0.03 g	-	-	0.18 g	0.06 g	0.12 mg	0.04 mg	5.10 mg	0.60 mg	18.00 mg	3.90 mg	0.01 mg	0.03 mg	0.05 µg	-	0.42 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	-	0.01 mg	-	0.12 µg	-	-	-
1.25		celery stalks	celery	14.88	3.06 g	-	0.09 g	-	0.61 g	1.40 g	122.50 mg	0.35 mg	70.00 mg	8.75 mg	350.00 mg	35.00 mg	0.01 mg	0.09 mg	-	-	26.25 mg	-	0.44 mg	0.06 mg	0.09 mg	0.06 mg	-	10.50 µg	-	-	-
0.25	cm	fresh ginger		0.31	0.06 g	-	0.01 g	-	0.01 g	0.01 g	0.03 mg	0.01 mg	0.10 mg	0.20 mg	1.30 mg	0.15 mg	-	0.01 mg	-	-	0.03 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
25	gram	rice noodles		90.25	20.50 g	-	0.15 g	0.03 g	1.25 g	0.38 g	45.00 mg	0.18 mg	5.00 mg	2.50 mg	7.50 mg	30.00 mg	0.02 mg	0.18 mg	-	-	-	-	-	0.01 mg	0.01 mg	0.01 mg	-	0.75 µg	-	-	-
25	gram	egg noodles	gluten, egg	91.25	18.75 g	0.38 g	0.38 g	0.13 g	3.38 g	0.75 g	1.25 mg	0.75 mg	5.00 mg	7.50 mg	25.00 mg	20.00 mg	0.03 mg	0.20 mg	-	4.63 µg	-	-	-	0.10 mg	0.08 mg	0.05 mg	0.20 µg	12.50 µg	0.15 mg	0.03 µg	-
1		boiled eggs	egg	94.80	0.90 g	0.06 g	6.72 g	2.10 g	7.74 g	-	87.00 mg	1.26 mg	36.00 mg	6.00 mg	88.20 mg	132.00 mg	-	0.78 mg	-	-	-	1.20 mg	0.13 mg	0.06 mg	0.18 mg	0.07 mg	0.66 µg	24.00 µg	-	-	-
0.5		pak choi		7.88	0.70 g	-	-	-	0.88 g	0.88 g	8.75 mg	0.44 mg	43.75 mg	6.13 mg	218.75 mg	26.25 mg	0.02 mg	0.18 mg	-	-	17.50 mg	-	0.26 mg	0.09 mg	-	0.09 mg	-	52.50 µg	-	-	-
		spring onions		2.40	0.47 g	0.17 g	0.02 g	-	0.14 g	0.20 g	1.20 mg	0.11 mg	5.40 mg	1.50 mg	20.70 mg	2.18 mg	0.01 mg	0.02 mg	-	0.05 µg	1.35 mg	-	43.88 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	-	4.80 µg	0.05 mg	15.52 µg	-
0.25	a splash of	sweet soy sauce	soy, gluten	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		sambal oelek		1.56	0.22 g	0.22 g	0.03 g	-	0.13 g	-	300.00 mg	0.03 mg	1.25 mg	0.63 mg	12.50 mg	1.25 mg	-	0.01 mg	-	-	11.25 mg	-	0.02 mg	0.01 mg	0.01 mg	0.01 mg	-	0.63 µg	-	-	-
		crispy fried onions	gluten	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
125	gram	minced beef		261.25	1.00 g	-	18.25 g	9.25 g	23.88 g	-	87.50 mg	0.50 mg	12.50 mg	25.00 mg	375.00 mg	225.00 mg	-	6.00 mg	-	-	25.00 mg	-	-	0.04 mg	0.09 mg	0.21 mg	-	-	-	-	-
0.75	clove	garlic		3.15	0.63 g	0.02 g	-	-	0.14 g	0.04 g	0.09 mg	0.03 mg	3.82 mg	0.45 mg	13.50 mg	2.93 mg	0.01 mg	0.02 mg	0.03 µg	-	0.32 mg	-	-	-	-	0.01 mg	-	0.09 µg	-	-	-
0.25	teaspoon	salt		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	600.00 mg	-	0.15 mg	4.35 mg	0.08 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.13	teaspoon	white pepper		0.77	0.13 g	-	0.01 g	-	0.03 g	0.05 g	0.10 mg	0.07 mg	1.00 mg	-	3.25 mg	0.45 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.25	teaspoon	sugar		5.03	1.24 g	1.24 g	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.03 mg	0.05 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.25		egg white	egg	4.90	0.07 g	-	0.02 g	-	1.11 g	-	17.00 mg	0.02 mg	1.10 mg	1.00 mg	15.50 mg	2.10 mg	0.01 mg	-	-	2.00 µg	0.03 mg	-	-	-	0.03 mg	-	0.01 µg	0.50 µg	-	-	-
25	gram	tapioca flour		87.25	21.25 g	0.88 g	0.05 g	-	0.15 g	-	1.25 mg	0.25 mg	3.00 mg	0.50 mg	5.00 mg	3.00 mg	0.02 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.03 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-
25	ml	ice-cold water		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
				1293.62	173.22 g	83.64 g	64.28 g	34.28 g	46.97 g	8.03 g	1624.60 mg	5.60 mg	255.05 mg	103.25 mg	1471.51 mg	637.33 mg	0.32 mg	8.64 mg	0.25 µg	15.43 µg	84.17 mg	1.38 mg	62.23 mg	0.56 mg	0.87 mg	0.66 mg	1.05 µg	123.51 µg	1.94 mg	19.05 µg	-