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Soto Betawi is a creamy, savory beef soup that you enjoy with hot, plain white rice and a spoonful or two of chili sambal. It’s heartwarming street food from Jakarta.

What is Soto Betawi in English?

Most soups are simple: broth, protein, done. Soto Betawi is a different category entirely.

This is Jakarta’s signature beef soup, and what sets it apart from other Indonesian soto is its base. Fresh milk gets added to the broth, giving it a richness that carries the spices differently. Lemongrass, galangal, salam leaf, and onion go in early and simmer long enough to build a layered, deeply aromatic base. The beef, usually brisket or any stew meat, depending on preference, becomes tender enough to break apart with a spoon.

Indonesian beef soup from Jakarta in a round bowl with some condiment, tomatoes, spring onions and lemon in small bowls.

It’s served with rice or lontong, topped with fried shallots, tomato, and a squeeze of lime. Each bowl is built to order. That’s part of what makes it worth making at home: you control exactly what goes in.

In the olden days, Jakarta was called Batavia/Betawi. Hence, this beef soup, originally from the Jakarta region, is called Soto Betawi. And if you want to translate it into English, soup is the best word to describe Soto. So you can freely translate Soto Betawi as Jakartan beef soup.

This beef soup uses a few spices and herbs that make it deliciously fragrant. And the soup itself contains milk, which makes it slightly creamy. That said, some people use coconut milk instead.

Whichever milk you put in this dish, promise you’ll like it anyway. Because the flavor of this simple yet heartwarming dish is just delicious.

And when you go to Jakarta, you’ll find street vendors, cafes, and restaurants that sell this beef soup. It’s one of the most loved dishes that one can easily buy whenever one is craving it.

What Does It Taste Like?

Simply put, this Soto Betawi tastes creamy and savory with a heartwarming flavor that makes it just delicious.

The dish has a delicate fragrance of mixed herbs and spices. It has a hint of sweetness from the milk and a tanginess from the lime juice that you squeeze into a serving. And, of course, it has the richness of beef stock from slow cooking the beef broth at the beginning.

And if you love chilies, you will enjoy this beef soup with a spoon or two of freshly made chili sauce. Ah, just yummy.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The broth is richer than standard beef soups. Adding fresh milk to the spiced beef stock creates a soup base that’s creamy without being heavy. It coats the palate in a way a clear broth simply doesn’t.
The spice list looks long, but each one earns its place. Lemongrass brings citrusy brightness. Galangal adds a sharp, piney warmth. Nothing in this list is filler.
Slow cooking does most of the work. Once everything is in the pot, time handles the hard part. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors meld. Two hours in, the beef is tender, and the broth has transformed.
You can customize the toppings completely. Traditional garnishes include fried potato, tomato, fried shallots, emping crackers, and lime. Use what you have, skip what you don’t. The broth is strong enough to hold the bowl together regardless.
Leftovers taste better the next day. Like most spiced braises, the flavor deepens overnight. Make a larger batch deliberately — reheating it the next morning over rice is one of the better weekday breakfasts you’ll have.
It’s an honest introduction to Betawi cooking. Betawi cuisine — the food indigenous to Jakarta — is underrepresented outside Indonesia. This soup is one of its most accessible and well-loved dishes. Making it from scratch gives you a real sense of what that cooking tradition is about.
Dairy makes it approachable if coconut milk isn’t your preference. Traditionally made with coconut milk, some versions use fresh cow’s milk for a lighter, less sweet result. Both work. It’s one of the few Indonesian dishes where that substitution is actually built into the original recipe.
The fried shallots on top are not optional. They add crunch, sweetness, and a toasted savory note that the soup needs at the end. Make a bigger batch than you think — they disappear fast and keep well in a jar.

What You Need to Make Soto Betawi

Traditionally, this soup uses all sorts of cow innards, such as tripe, lung, and intestines. But in this recipe, I only use beef. If that’s your personal preference, feel free to include the cow innards.

So, for this Soto Betawi recipe, you will need beef meat, onion, galangal, salam leaves, lemongrass, ground white pepper, semi-skimmed/ whole milk, spring onions, tomatoes, and lime.

How to Cook Soto Betawi

It’s darn easy to cook this dish.

Firstly, I boil the beef in freshwater until it is boiling, and you can see some impurities of the meat floating on the water’s surface. Drain the water and rinse the beef. Then cut the meat into ½-inch cubes.

Secondly, grind the onion into a paste while you boil some water in another cooking pot.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the onion paste, lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, pepper, and salt. Leave it to cook and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

Thirdly, add the beef to the spiced boiling water and cook at low heat with the lid on for at least an hour. The longer you cook the beef, the tastier the broth will become.

So when the beef has tenderized, and the broth looks cloudy and tastes deliciously savory, you pour the milk into it. And let it cook until the soup is boiling again.

Storing Matter

In principle, you can leave your beef Soto fully cooled down, store it in a tightly lidded food container, and keep it in the freezer. It keeps well for about 6-8 weeks. Don’t forget to label it so you won’t forget.

When you need to serve it, leave it in the fridge/ refrigerator overnight to thaw. And reheat the soup until it comes to a rolling boil before serving. Do not refreeze the thawed food.

And you can cook this dish a few days in advance. It keeps well in the fridge for about 2-3 days.

Soto Betawi the beef soup from Jakarta region in a white round bowl surrounded with condiments, lemon, tomato and spring onion in small bowls.

How Do You Eat Soto Betawi?

And to make the dish even better, you can sprinkle some fried onions over the soup at serving time and have prawn crackers on the side to enjoy with it.

As with any soup in Indonesian cuisine, this Soto Betawi is best served with plain white rice.