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Home » Soups

Mie Bakso Indonesian Meatball Soup With Noodles

Published: Sep 15, 2021 · Modified: Nov 26, 2022 by Harriet · 2 Comments

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This mie bakso Indonesian meatball soup is quick and easy to make. It’s so simple you can even make this during the week after work.

Serve with only the beef meatballs and broth for a light meal or make a complete meal with noodles and Asian vegetables.

Bakso garnished with hard boiled eggs and chili.
Jump to:
  • Cost To Make
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe:
  • Ingredients In This Recipe
  • Equipment
  • Step By Step Instructions
  • Serving Suggestions
  • You might also like to know:
  • FAQ
  • More Easy Recipes
  • Bakso - Indonesian Meatball Soup
  • Comments

Bakso Indonesian meatball soup is a simple street food that you can easily make at home. Bakso meatballs are so soft and tender, unlike any other meatball you have ever had.

Cost To Make

Estimated cost = $11.75 or $1.95 a serve (does not include noodles or garnishes)

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

  • This bakso Indonesian meatball soup recipe has been adapted and is quicker to make than the traditional method where you do not have to make the beef stock from scratch.
  • The bakso (Indonesian meatballs) are easy to make, and you can have them ready to cook in under 15 minutes.
  • Bakso soup is light and healthy and a great soup any time of the year.
  • The recipe is so simple to make you can even make this after work. 

Ingredients In This Recipe

You can download a printable version of this recipe below. It lists all the ingredients you need and gives clear, step-by-step instructions to help you make it.

Ingredients photo for bakso soup.

Spring onions or green onions – trim the root section and use the white and most of the green part of the onion.

Garlic – use fresh garlic if you can get it but, if you can not, bottled garlic paste will also work.

Garlic powder – is used in conjunction with fresh garlic to enhance the garlic flavor.

Coriander roots are often used in Asian cooking and are full of flavor. Make sure to give them a good wash to remove the sand and dirt before using.

Salt is used in both the soup and beef meatballs to enhance the flavors.

Baking powder will give the meatballs a light and airy texture. Make sure to use only a level teaspoon because any more than that can affect the taste of the meatballs.

Tapioca flour also helps to give the meatballs a light texture as well as bind the mixture together. If you can’t get tapioca flour use, cornflour instead.

Egg white gives added moisture to the meatballs and also acts as a binding agent.

Beef stock powder flavors the meatball and will also give flavor to the soup ad the meatballs cook.

Nutmeg – freshly grated or powdered is a common ingredient found in Indonesian food.

Ground beef (minced beef) – use either regular or lean fat reduced beef mince.

Vegetable oil or peanut oil can be used.

Asian shallot is a sweet red onion used in Asian cooking. If you can not get shallots, use red onion instead or use brown onion. 

Liquid – You have a choice to use either water with beef stock powder or homemade or store-bought stocks like beef or chicken stock.

Sugar is added to the soup to balance out the flavors.

Optional Garnishes

  • Noodles
  • Bok choy
  • Hard boiled eggs  
  • Asian fried onions
  • Spring onion
  • Fresh chilli

Equipment

  • Small blender (see notes 1 and 2 below)
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Measuring jug
  • Measuring spoons
  • Kitchen scales
  • Cutting board
  • Sharp knife
  • Large deep saucepan with lid
  • Wooden spoon

Note 1: You will need a small blender or food processor to grind some ingredients into a fine paste.

Note 2: If you don’t have a grinder, you could use a large pestle and mortar and pound the ingredients into a paste or finely mince them with a knife.

Step By Step Instructions

How To Make Bakso Meatballs

Ingredients in a food processor.

Step 1  – Place the meatball ingredients except for the ground beef and tapioca flour in the food processor

Vegetable puree in a food processor.

Step 2 - Process until it becomes a smooth paste.

Ground beef and other ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Step 3 – Transfer the paste from the blender into a large mixing bowl with the ground beef, and tapioca flour.

A hand mixing ground beef and other ingedients together.

Step 4 - Mix until well combined.

Step 5 - Shaping The Meatballs

Shaped bakso meatballs on a white plate.

Traditionally the meatballs are made by taking a fistful of the prepared mixture and squeezing it up and between the thumb and forefinger, creating an oval-shaped ball.

However, this can be tricky to master and messy with the mixture oozing out between your fingers.

So, the next best option is to roll the mixture into balls between the palms of your hands, just as you would any other meatball.

We usually make about 40 meatballs for this soup, and each beef ball is about 20 grams (0.7 ounces).

  • Tip: Wet your hands when shaping the meatballs to stop the mixture from sticking to your hands as you roll it into balls. 

Making the soup and cooking the meatballs

As mentioned earlier this, is a quick and easy recipe to make, and here is where we make some shortcuts.

The traditional way is to cook the meatballs in boiling water and then transfer them to a bone broth soup. It takes hours to make a bone broth from scratch - and this needs to be several days ahead of time.

What we are going to do is to make a simple soup and cook the bakso in that.

So, here’s how to make my quick Indonesian bakso soup recipe.

Onions frying in a saucepan.

Step 6 – Heat some oil in a large deep saucepan, add the onions and fry until golden and add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

Water pouring into a saucepan.

Step 7 – Add the liquid to the pot along with the sugar and fresh ginger. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Raw meat balls being placed into soup.

Step 8 – Turn up the heat and carefully add the meatballs to the soup.

Meat balls simmering in soup.

Step 9 – The raw meatballs will sink to the bottom of the pot, and when cooked, will float to the top. When they have floated to the top, allow them to cook for a few more minutes.

Image showing the inside of cooked bakso meatballs.

Step 10 – Before removing the meatballs from the soup, check that they cooked through by splitting one in half.

Meatballs being removed from hot soup.

Step 11 – Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary. You can either leave the meatballs in the soup and serve straight away or remove the meatballs and allow them to cool. To reheat, put the meatballs back into the hot soup to warm through.

Serving Suggestions

Eat the meatballs with just the broth, or serve with noodles of your choice and garnished with:

  • hard-boiled eggs
  • steamed bok choy
  • finely sliced spring onions
  • slices of fresh chili
  • dried onion flakes and garlic flakes

If you are serving with egg noodles, the egg noodles can be heated by placing them into hot water for just a minute or two or until soft and warmed through, then drain and serve.

If using rice vermicelli (also known as bee hoon or bihun), place the noodles into a heat-proof bowl. Next, pour over some boiling water and allow it to stand in the water until softened.

It can take anywhere between 5 - 10 minutes or more, depending on the brand you are using. Drain well before serving.

You might also like to know:

  • These beef bakso balls will darken as they cool to room temperature.
  • If left in the hot soup for too long, they will swell and puff up due to the egg-white and baking powder and shrink again when cooled.
  • Bakso is soft and tender to the bite.
  • These cooked beef balls can also be sliced and added to stir-fries.

FAQ

What is bakso made off?

Bakso is an Indonesian term for meatballs and can also refer to meatball soup. You can use meats like:

  • Beef = Bakso Sapi
  • Chicken = Baskso Ayam
  • Pork = Bakso Babi
  • Fish = Bakso Ikan
  • Prawns = Bakso Udan
  • Vegetables = Bakso Sayuran (or Sayur)

All of which are ground into a mince and combined with various seasons and flavorings, then shaped into balls.

What is mie bakso?

The word mie (or mee) is an Indonesian term meaning noodles so, mie bakso is a meatball soup with noodles.

More Easy Recipes

If you like this Asian recipe you might also like this recipe for soto ayam (Indonesian chicken noodle soup) or this recipe for pork mince stir fry with noodles or these easy Asian recipes:

  • Sambal ikan bilis
  • How to make char sui
  • Pork spring rolls
  • Chinese chicken and corn soup
  • Kacang Bawang - Indonesian garlic peanuts
  • Steamed glutinous rice with chicken
  • Achar - Indonesian vegetable pickle
  • Tomato pulao
  • Chicken pulao
Top down view of bakso soup.

I do hope you give this Bakso Noodle Soup recipe a try. If you do try the recipe, please come back and leave a comment below because I would love to know how you went.

Bakso - Indonesian Meatball Soup

Harriet
Bakso is a popular Indonesian meatball soup. This homemade recipe is a quick version using juicy beef meatballs simmered in a simple broth, which can be served with or without noodles.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Course Soup
Cuisine Indonesian
Servings 6 servings
Calories 204 kcal

Equipment

  • Small blender (see note below)
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Measuring jug
  • Measuring spoons
  • Kitchen scales
  • Cutting board
  • Sharp knife
  • Large deep saucepan with lid
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients
  

MEATBALLS

  • 3 – 4 spring onions
  • 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
  • 16 grams (0.6 ounces) coriander roots -washed
  • 1 level teaspoon salt
  • 1 level teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 level teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 egg white
  • ½ teaspoon beef stock powder or chicken powder
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
  • 600 grams (21 ounces) lean ground beef beef mince
  • 6 level tablespoons tapioca flour or cornflour

SOUP STOCK

  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
  • 5 garlic cloves crushed and chopped finely
  • 1 shallot or red onion finely diced
  • 3 litres water or chicken stock or beef stock
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger bruised
  • Salt and pepper for seasoning

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS FOR SERVING

  • egg noodles or vermicelli or bihoon noodles or you can do a combination of these noodles
  • steamed bok choy
  • hard boiled eggs
  • dried onions
  • sliced spring onion
  • slices of fresh red or green chilli

Instructions
 

  • MAKE THE MEATBALLS
    In a small blender place all meatball the ingredients, except the ground meat and tapioca flour and grind until fine.
    If the blender is large and you find that it is not grinding the ingredients finely, you can add a small quantity of the ground meat to help it along.
    In a large mixing bowl, add the blended ingredients and tapioca flour to the ground beef and mix until evenly distributed. The best way to mix this is with your hands, wear gloves if you like.
    Shape into about 40 meatballs. Put aside for later.
  • MAKE THE SOUP STOCK
    Heat the oil in a large 4 litre sauce pan. Add garlic and onion and cook on medium heat until golden.
    Add the water or stock, sugar and ginger and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
    Remove the lid, bring back to the boil. Carefully drop in the meatballs, they will sink to the bottom and rise as they cook. When all the meatballs have floated to the top simmer for 2-3 minutes more or until the meatballs are cooked through (they should not be pink inside).
    Taste the soup for salt and season accordingly.
    This soup can be eaten as is or served with noodles, steamed bok choy, boiled eggs, dried onion and spring onions.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 204kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 23gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 140mgPotassium: 423mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 240IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Comments

    5 from 1 vote

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  1. Jaimie says

    July 24, 2021 at 7:31 am

    5 stars
    Yum! This looks amazing and so filling but also so healthy. I've been looking for a nice winter soup that is also fresh and light, I'm really looking forward to giving this a try!

    Reply
    • Harriet Britto says

      July 25, 2021 at 10:32 am

      Thanks.

Author image.

Hi, I'm Harriet! The face and photographer behind Recipe Pocket. I am a mother of two who is a cook by day and blogger by night.

More about me ->

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