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 2305 recipes in total:

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Keftedes (Greek Meatballs)      Origin: Greece	Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Lamb Stew)      Origin: Iceland	Kuku wa Nazi (Chicken with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Kenya
Kejenou avec Agouti (Kejenou with Cane Rat)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Kjufteta Po Cirpanski (Meatballs and Potatoes)      Origin: Bulgaria	Kukulu Musamma      Origin: Sri Lanka
Kekefia (Plantain Pottage)      Origin: Nigeria	Kobi Bhaji      Origin: India	Kulu'wa (Eritrean Chopped Meat)      Origin: Eritrea
Kelenkelen (Fish with Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Cameroon	Kobi Keema (Cabbage and Minced Meat Curry)      Origin: India	Kurmanash      Origin: India
Keleya Zaara (Tunisian Lamb with Saffron)      Origin: Tunisia	Kobi Sabji (Cabbage Sabji)      Origin: India	Kuru Fasulye      Origin: Turkey
Kenkey      Origin: Ghana	Koenigsberger Klopse (German Meatballs)      Origin: Germany	Kuurdak (Stewed Meat, Onions and Potatoes)      Origin: Kyrgyzstan
Kenyan Chicken Tikka      Origin: Kenya	Kohl Westfalisch (Westphalian Cabbage II)      Origin: Germany	Kyazangi Kaukswe (Rice Noodles with Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Kenyan Matoke      Origin: British	Kokam Fish      Origin: India	Kyet tha Kar la Thar Hin (Chicken and Squash Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Kerrie-aartappels en Uie (Curried Potatoes and Onions)      Origin: South Africa	Koko na Nyama (Meat with Koko)      Origin: Central African Republic	Kyrgyz Plov      Origin: Kyrgyzstan
Kerrieboontjies (South African Curried Beans)      Origin: South Africa	Kokum Kari (Kokam Curry)      Origin: India	Lækker mørbradgryde (Pork Tenderloin Casserole)      Origin: Denmark
Kewa Datshi (Potatoes with Cheese)      Origin: Bhutan	Kolkas (Turkish Cypriot Chicken and Taro Stew)      Origin: Northern Cyprus	L'Ham Lahlou (Sweet Lamb for Ramadan)      Origin: Algeria
Kewa Phagsha (Spicy Pork with Potatoes)      Origin: Bhutan	Kolokasi (Greek Cypriot Taro with Pork)      Origin: Cyprus	La Bandera Dominicana (The Dominican Flag)      Origin: Dominican Republic
Khao Man (Coconut Rice)      Origin: Brunei	Komprek Eromba (Water Dropwort Eromba)      Origin: India	La Capitaine Sangha (Nile Perch with Red Sauce)      Origin: Mali
Khasi Ko Masu (Nepali Goat Meat Curry)      Origin: Nepal	Kondré de Porc (Kondré of Pork)      Origin: Cameroon	Lablabi      Origin: Tunisia
Khatta Curry      Origin: India	Konkoé Turé Gbéli (Smoked Catfish Stew with Vegetables)      Origin: Guinea	Laganophake (Lentil Stew)      Origin: Roman
Khela Kalia (West Bengali Lamb Curry)      Origin: India	Kontomire Stew (Cocoyam Leaf Stew)      Origin: Ghana	Lagman      Origin: Kyrgyzstan
Khichidi      Origin: India	Koozy (Leg of Lamb)      Origin: Iraq	Lagman      Origin: Turkmenistan
Khichiri      Origin: India	Korean-flavoured Lamb Shanks with Swede and Potato Mash      Origin: Fusion	Lahm Lhalou (Lamb Stew with Prunes)      Origin: Algeria
Khnom Jin Namya (Catfish Curry over Noodles)      Origin: Thailand	Korean-inspired Pollock Stew with Gochujang and Wild Greens      Origin: Korea	Lahma Mu'assaga (Savoury Minced Lamb)      Origin: Egypt
Khoodra Mafrooka      Origin: Sudan	Koshari (Lentils, Pasta and Rice)      Origin: Egypt	Lakhou bissap      Origin: Senegal
Khoresh B'Amieh (Okra Stew)      Origin: Iran	Kosksu bil-Ful (Couscous with Broad Beans)      Origin: Malta	Laksa      Origin: Malaysia
Khoresht-e Loobia (Stewed Mutton with String Beans)      Origin: Iran	Kotor Bay Stewed Fish      Origin: Montenegro	Lale Mamoe (Samoan Lamb Curry)      Origin: Samoa
Khoresht-e Zereshk (Barberry, Lamb and Nut Stew)      Origin: Iran	Koumrangan      Origin: Chad	Lamb and Cabbage Rolls      Origin: Britain
Khoreshte Kalal (Lamb Stew with Barberry Sauce)      Origin: Iran	Kouneli Stifado (Rabbit Stew)      Origin: Greece	Lamb Curry with Winter Vegetables and Spinach      Origin: Fusion
Khormya (Spiced Lamb with Yoghurt)      Origin: Kazakhstan	Koushari (Lentils, Macaroni and Rice in Oil)      Origin: Egypt	Lamb Dhan Saag      Origin: India
Khumbi Aloo (Mushroom and Potato Curry)      Origin: India	Koushry (Rice with Lentils)      Origin: Egypt	Lamb Jalfrezi      Origin: India
Kibeba (Cassava and Cuttlefish Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Kozi Ishtu (Keralan Chicken Ishtu)      Origin: India	Lamb Julienne with Crispy Dumplings      Origin: Britain
Kid Goat Korma      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Krain Krain (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Lamb Madras      Origin: India
Kig ha Farz (Meat with Stuffing)      Origin: France	Kuah Kuning (Yellow Gravy Soup)      Origin: Papua	Lamb Rogan Josh      Origin: India
Kilmeny Kail      Origin: Scotland	Kuba (Mushroom and Barley Casserole)      Origin: Czech	Lamb Stew with Chestnuts and Pomegranates      Origin: Georgia
Kingklip and Prawn Biryani      Origin: South Africa	Kubani (Dried Apricot Dessert)      Origin: India	Lamb Stifado      Origin: Cyprus
Kiribati Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Kiribati	Kuka Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Lamb Tagine Pie      Origin: Fusion
Kishke (Stuffed Derma)      Origin: Uzbekistan	Kuku (Chicken)      Origin: Kenya
Kissra be Omregayga      Origin: Sudan	Kuku Paka (Chicken-coconut Curry)      Origin: East Africa

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