Stews have been around almost nearly as long as humans have been cooking. All you need is a vessel to hold your ingredients and water and a means of heating that vessel. It can be as simple as a leather bag with stones heated in a fire dropped into it. So stews were almost certainly prepared during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, if not earlier. Once you have clay or metal pots you can prepare stews next to or set directly over a fire. Stews are low-maintenance cookery, generally not requiring that the cooking pot be observed continuously. The slow cooking is also ideal for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat (neck, shin, tail etc). As these also tend to be the most flavoursome parts of animals, this also means that stews can be extremely flavourful. Stews also pair well with the local staple: potatoes, rice, bread, yams, cassava etc.

Even in hunter-gatherer societies stews are useful in that the slow cooking can make the most of tough meat and it can be combined with foraged grains, leafy greens, nuts and starchy tubers to yield a flavourful, low maintenance and nutritious meal. With the advent of agriculture almost all grains are amenable to stewing and combining grains and legumes in a stew provides a ready way to gain all the essential amino acids that humans (particularly children) require.

The boiling process of making stews also helps sterilize the ingredients, killing harmful bacteria and viruses. It can also help neutralize harmful chemicals, such as the cyanogenic compounds in bitter cassava and helps reduce bitterness in leafy greens, making the food both safer to eat and more palatable. The addition of flavouring ingredients (fruit, spices, herbs) during the cooking process can also alter the flavours of stews, making them more palatable and more appealing. This is particularly the case when adding components with high umami content (certain fish, seaweed, cruciferous vegetables, beans, soy sauce, mushrooms etc).

It is little wonder that, taken globally, the list of stews presented on this site is a long one.

Some stews border on soups and the definition of whether a dish is a soup or a stew. A good example of this is Welsh cawl which can be served with more liquid as a soup or can be thickened as a stew and served with bread and/or potatoes. Most curries, due to their long, slow cooking and blend of ingredients can also be considered a subtype of stew.

Pretty much every culture on earth has a classic stew that's a major part of its cultural culinary repertoire. I have viewed and collected recipes for many of these on my travels. These and other classic stews from around the world are collected and presented here.

The alphabetical list of all the stew recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 2595 recipes in total:

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Govjadina Tblisi i Griby (Tblisi Beef and Mushrooms)      Origin: Georgia	Guineafowl with Grapes      Origin: Britain	Haricots Blancs à la Bretonne (Breton-style White Beans)      Origin: France
Grain Mustard Based Fish Curry      Origin: India	Guinean Avocado Sauce      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Harira      Origin: Djibouti
Grannat Chop      Origin: Sierra Leone	Guinean Spinach Sauce      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Harisa (Chicken and Wheat Porridge)      Origin: Armenia
Grape Jelly Meatballs      Origin: American	Guinness Bottle Chicken Stew      Origin: Saint Vincent	Havgitov Kufta (Bulgur Wheat with Eggs and Tomatoes)      Origin: Armenia
Grasscutter Soup with Okra      Origin: Ghana	Guisado de carne de porco com Amêijoas (Pork Stew with Cockles)      Origin: Angola	Hawthorn Berry Sauce      Origin: Britain
Grasscutter Stew      Origin: Ghana	Guisado de la Quinoa (Quinoa Stew)      Origin: Peru	Heat Wave Chili      Origin: American
Gratin Christophine (Chayote Gratin)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Guisado del Inca (Inca Stew)      Origin: Peru	Hebolace      Origin: England
Gratin de pommes de terre des Antilles (Antilles Potato Gratin)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Guisado Perviuano de la Calabaza (Peruvian Pumpkin Stew)      Origin: Peru	Hena-Kisoa sy voanjobory (Pork with Bambara Groundnuts)      Origin: Madagascar
Green Bean Bredie      Origin: South Africa	Guiso de Conejoa (Rabbit Stew)      Origin: Peru	Henne in Bokenade (Hen in Sauce)      Origin: England
Green Beans in Coconut Sauce      Origin: Fusion	Gulai Kambing (Sumatran Goat Curry)      Origin: Martinique	Herbed Dumplings      Origin: Britain
Green Duck Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Gungo Rice and Peas      Origin: Jamaica	Herring Rougail (Le Rougail Z'hareng)      Origin: Reunion
Green Pea and Liver Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Guriltai Shul (Stewed Vegetables, Meat and Noodles)      Origin: Mongolia	Hervido de pescado (Boiled Fish with Vegetables)      Origin: Costa Rica
Green Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Gustum de Cucurbitis (Gourd Antipasto)      Origin: Roman	Highland Venison Casserole with Chestnuts      Origin: Scotland
Grenada Callaloo Soup      Origin: Grenada	Gustum de Holeribus (Vegetable Relish)      Origin: Roman	Himalayan Balsam Seed Curry      Origin: Fusion
Grenada Curry Goat      Origin: Grenada	Gustum de praecoquiis (Starter with Apricots)      Origin: Roman	Hlalem (Pasta with Beans)      Origin: Tunisia
Grenada Oil Down      Origin: Grenada	Gustum Versatile (Turnover Antipasto)      Origin: Roman	Holdermus (Elderberry Mush)      Origin: Germany
Grenadian Chicken Curry      Origin: Grenada	Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Casserole      Origin: Britain	Home-made Anchovy Essence      Origin: Britain
Grenadian Coconut Curry Chicken      Origin: Grenada	Guyanese Chicken Curry      Origin: Guyana	Hong am Rèisleck (Chicken Cooked in Wine)      Origin: Luxembourg
Grenadian Nutmeg Chicken Curry      Origin: Grenada	Guyanese Cook-up Rice and Peas      Origin: Guyana	Hong Shao Rou (Red-cooked Pork Belly)      Origin: China
Grenadian Pelau      Origin: Grenada	Guyanese Crab Callaloo      Origin: Guyana	Hoppin' John      Origin: America
Grewel Forced (Meat Gruel)      Origin: England	Guyanese Pepper Pot      Origin: Guyana	Hor'i (Stewed Beef Shank)      Origin: Yemen
Grilled Mackerel with Spicy Dahl      Origin: South Africa	Gwledd y Cybydd (The Miser's Feast)      Origin: Welsh	Hot and Sour Venison Soup with Honey Fungus      Origin: Britain
Grima Fish Curry      Origin: Kenya	Gynggaudy      Origin: England	Hot Chili Beans      Origin: American
Groaty Pudding      Origin: England	Habichuelas Guisadas (Dominican Bean Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Hot Green Tamarind Chicken      Origin: Indonesia
Gronden Benes (Ground Beans)      Origin: England	Habichuelas Negras (Puerto Rican Stewed Black Beans)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Hot Pinto Bean Chili      Origin: American
Gruel of almanndes (Gruel of Almonds)      Origin: England	Haddock Supper      Origin: Ireland	Hot Turkey and Black Bean Chili      Origin: American
Gruyau (A Gruel of Husked Barley)      Origin: France	Haenau Cig Oen gyda Pannas a Chennin (Slices of Lamb with Parsnips and Leeks)      Origin: Welsh	Hotpot Porc Cymreig, Chorizo a Ffa Gwynion (Welsh Pork, Chorizo and White Bean Hotpot)      Origin: Welsh
Grzyby w śmietanie (Mushrooms with Sour Cream)      Origin: Poland	Halibut and Tomato Curry      Origin: Britain	Hotpot Porc y Gaeaf (Wintery Pork Hotpot)      Origin: Welsh
Guam Chicken Curry      Origin: Guam	Halloween Swamp Dip      Origin: American	Huachingngo Yucateco (Red Snapper, Yucatan Style)      Origin: Mexico
Guatita (Ecuadorian Tripe Stew)      Origin: Ecuador	Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)      Origin: Slovakia	Iakwe Stew (Marshallese Chicken Stew)      Origin: Marshall Islands
Guava Nectar      Origin: Hawaii	Halupki Stuffed with Buckwheat Groats      Origin: Slovakia	Ibihaza (Beans with Pumpkin)      Origin: Rwanda
Guiana Rice and Peas      Origin: French Guiana	Haluwa (Carrot Sweetmeat)      Origin: Tanzania	Ifisashi (Bean Leaves with Peanuts)      Origin: Zambia
Guinaar (Fried Chicken)      Origin: Senegal	Hares in Papdele (Hare Stew on a Bread Base)      Origin: England
Guinea Fowl with Coconut Cream      Origin: Zimbabwe	Hares in Talbotes (Hares in Hare-blood Sauce)      Origin: England

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