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 1816 recipes in total:

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Nyma ye Huku (Zimbabwean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Pappardelle with Slow-cooked Beef and Mushrooms      Origin: Britain	Peeres in Confyt (Pears in Confit)      Origin: England
Obe Ata (Nigerian Pepper Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Paprika Sausage      Origin: British	Peiouns y Stewed (Stewed Pigeons)      Origin: England
Obe Eja Dindin (Fried Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Parched Peas      Origin: England	Pelau      Origin: Saint Kitts
Obe Eja Tutu (Fresh Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Pargo con Tomate (Snapper with Tomato)      Origin: Colombia	Pemahun      Origin: Sierra Leone
Ock-lam (Barbecued Pork with Mushrooms and Beans)      Origin: Laos	Parthade Curry      Origin: India	Penang Prawn Curry      Origin: Thailand
Octopus Curry      Origin: Seychelles	Pašrūtum (Unwinding Mesopotamian Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Penfras Cymraeg Wedi Pobi (Welsh Cod Bake)      Origin: Welsh
Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Pasta with Olives and Caperberries      Origin: Britain	Penne with Mushroom Cream Sauce      Origin: Italy
Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)      Origin: Roman	Pasta with Wild Greens      Origin: Britain	Peperonata      Origin: Italy
Oignons à la Monégasque (Sweet and Sour Onions, Monegasque Style)      Origin: Monaco	Pašticada (Dalmatian Beef Stew with Prunes and Apples)      Origin: Croatia	Pépésup (Pepper Soup)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Okok (Eru Leaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Pasties Boiled in Beef Broth      Origin: Cornwall	Pepones et Melones (Water and Honey Melons)      Origin: Roman
Olusatra (Alexanders with Raisin Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Patellam ex holisatro (Artichokes Cooked in Herbs)      Origin: Roman	Pepper Soup      Origin: Liberia
Omajova-Pilz-Ragout mit Hirse (Omajova Mushroom Ragout with Millet)      Origin: Namibia	Patina Cotidiana (Everyday Dish)      Origin: Roman	Pepper Soupe de Poisson (Fish Pepper Soup)      Origin: Cameroon
Osso Bucco alla Milanese      Origin: Italy	Patina Cotidiana II (Everyday Casserole II)      Origin: Roman	Pepperpot      Origin: Antigua
Ostrich Goulash      Origin: Namibia	Patina de Apua (A Dish of Anchovies)      Origin: Roman	Perch Benachin      Origin: Gambia
Ottogi Karē (Ottogi Curry)      Origin: Korea	Patina de Cydoneis (A Dish of Quinces)      Origin: Roman	Perdicem cum pluma (Sauce for Wood Pigeon or Partridge)      Origin: Roman
Ouassous dans la nage (Ouassous in the swim)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Patina de Persicis (A Dish of Peaches)      Origin: Roman	Peri Peri Kari Camarão (Fiery Prawn Curry)      Origin: Mozambique
Ox-heart Black Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Patina de piris (Pear Souflé)      Origin: Roman	Persian Lentils with Orange Juice and Angelica      Origin: Iran
Oxtail Pot Pies      Origin: South Africa	Patina de Piscibus, Dentice, Aurata et Mugile (A Dish of Fish Made with Dentex, Gilt-head Bream, or Grey Mullet)      Origin: Roman	Peruvian Goat Stew      Origin: Peru
Oysters in Cynee (Oysters in Spiced Bread Sauce)      Origin: England	Patina de pisciculis (Dish of Small Fish)      Origin: Roman	Perys en Composte (Pears in Compote)      Origin: England
Pabellón Criollo (Venezuelan Shredded Beef with Rice and Beans)      Origin: Venezuela	Patina de Sabuco (Elderberry Souflée)      Origin: Roman	Peson of Almayne (German Peas)      Origin: England
Packet and Tripe      Origin: Ireland	Patina Fusilis (A Fluid Dish)      Origin: Roman	Phaksha Pa      Origin: Bhutan
Paella de Carne de Caza (Bushmeat Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patina Fusilis (A Dish of Wild Herbs)      Origin: Roman	Phaksha Paa (Bhutanese Pork with Chillies)      Origin: Bhutan
Paella de Pintada (Guineafowl Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patina solearum (Patina of Sole in a Herb Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Phane Stew      Origin: Botswana
Paella Valencia      Origin: Spain	Patina zomoteganon (Fish Fillets with Leek and Coriander)      Origin: Roman	Phool gobhi Achari      Origin: India
Paella Valencia de la Huerta (Traditional Chicken Paella)      Origin: Spain	Patinam Apicianam (Apician Casserole)      Origin: Roman	Picadillo      Origin: Cuba
Palak Paneer (Paneer with Spinach)      Origin: India	Patinam ex Lacte (Milk Casserole)      Origin: Roman	Pick a Pepper Soup      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Palandy      Origin: Sri Lanka	Patka sa kiselim kupusom (Duck with Sauerkraut)      Origin: Croatia	Pied de Veau aux Pois Chiches (Calf's Feet with Chickpeas)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Palaver 'Sauce'      Origin: West Africa	Pazun Hin (Prawn Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Pig Tail Bouillon with Dumplings      Origin: Saint Lucia
Palaver Chicken      Origin: Ghana	Pe Nyat (Beans Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Pigeon Breasts      Origin: Scotland
Palm Butter Soup      Origin: Liberia	Pea Soup and Meat      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Pigeon Peas and Rice      Origin: Anguilla
Palm Soup Base #2      Origin: Liberia	Peanut Soup      Origin: West Africa	Pilao (Comorian Pilau)      Origin: Comoros
Pan Haggis      Origin: Scotland	Pears with Cinnamon and Wine      Origin: Roman	Pilao ou Riz au Poulet (Mahoran Chicken Pilau)      Origin: Mayotte
Panamanian Sancocho      Origin: Panama	Peas and Rice      Origin: Turks Caicos
Paneer Shabnam      Origin: India	Pease Pottage      Origin: Britain

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