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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Meadow Waxcap Curry with Rice      Origin: Britain	Mkhwani with Groundnut Flour      Origin: Malawi	Mouton au Curry (Mutton Curry)      Origin: France
Meatballs in Garlic Broth      Origin: Algeria	Moambé Stew      Origin: Congo	Moyo de Poulet Fume (Moyo of Smoked Chicken)      Origin: Benin
Meen Moilee (Keralan Fish Curry)      Origin: India	Moana-Roa Mahimahi      Origin: Cook Islands	Mozambique Peri-Peri      Origin: Mozambique
Meshoui (Moroccan Lamb)      Origin: Morocco	Mogatla (Oxtail Casserole)      Origin: Botswana	Mozambique Prawns      Origin: Mozambique
Mesir Wat (Lentil Bowl)      Origin: Ethiopia	Mohinga      Origin: Myanmar	Mpotompoto (Ghanaian Yam Porridge)      Origin: Ghana
Mexican Crockpot Chili      Origin: American	Mokoto      Origin: Benin	Mr Arnott's Currie      Origin: Britain
Mexican Pork'n'Beans      Origin: American	Molohiya (Chicken and Jute Mallow Stew)      Origin: Northern Cyprus	Mrefisa      Origin: Western Sahara
Mfumbwa (Gnetum and Fish Stew)      Origin: Mali	Molokheya au Poulet (Chicken Molokhia)      Origin: Tunisia	Mtsolola à la viande (Bananas and Meat)      Origin: Mayotte
Micronesian Coconut Chicken Curry      Origin: Federated States Micronesia	Molokhia (Egyptian Greens Soup)      Origin: Egypt	Mû Elamūtum (Elamite Broth)      Origin: Mesopotamia
Micronesian Fish with Coconut Milk and Lime      Origin: Federated States Micronesia	Moloukhia (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Niger	Muamba de Cabara (Goat Meat Muamba)      Origin: Angola
Microwave Beef Spice Hotpot      Origin: Britain	Monnchelet (Veal or Mutton Stew with Herbs and Egg Liaison)      Origin: England	Muamba de Galinha (Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola
Microwave Jambalaya      Origin: Britain	Montenegrin Imam Bajeldi      Origin: Montenegro	Muamba de Galinha (Angolan Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola
Microwave Polenta and Sausage      Origin: American	Montserratian Fisherman's Stew      Origin: Montserrat	Mughlai Beef Biriani      Origin: India
Microwave Prawn Gumbo      Origin: Britain	Montserratian Goat Water      Origin: Montserrat	Mughlai-style Camel Curry      Origin: India
Microwave Rabbit Stew with Dumplings      Origin: Britain	Montserratian Rice and Peas      Origin: Montserrat	Muhogo ya andzi Na nyama (Cassava with Meat)      Origin: Mayotte
Microwave Spicy Mid-winter Pie      Origin: Britain	Moong Pulao (Mung Bean Pulao)      Origin: Pakistan	Muland Saangi Ambat (Radish Pod Gravy)      Origin: India
Microwave Sweet and Sour Chicken      Origin: Fusion	Moongre ki Subzi (Radish Pod and Potato Sauté)      Origin: India	Mullah Bamyah (Beef and Okra Stew)      Origin: Sudan
Midia Atmou me Aspro Krasi (Mussels Steamed in White Wine)      Origin: Greece	Mopane Worms and Sorghum Porridge      Origin: Botswana	Mullangi Sambar (White Radish Sambar)      Origin: India
Midia Pilaf (Mussels Pilaf)      Origin: Armenia	Moqueca de Camarão (Prawn Stew)      Origin: Angola	Mumu      Origin: Papua New Guinea
Miesmuscheln mit Curry (Mussels with Curry Sauce)      Origin: Namibia	Moqueca de Pixe à Baiana (Grilled Fish, Baian Style)      Origin: Brazil	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Syria
Mimini (Grouper and Cassava Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Morel Mattar Masala      Origin: Fusion	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Jordan
Mince and Tatties      Origin: Scotland	Moro de guandules con coco (Christmas Rice and Pigeon Peas)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Lebanon
Minutal Apicianum (Ragout à la Apicius)      Origin: Roman	Moroccan Braised Lamb      Origin: Morocco	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Palestine
Minutal Dulce ex Citriis (Sweet Citron Ragout)      Origin: Roman	Moroccan Lamb Couscous      Origin: Morocco	Mushosh (Lentils with Apricots)      Origin: Armenia
Minutal ex Iecineribus et Pulmonibus Leporis (Hare's Liver and Lights Ragout)      Origin: Roman	Moroccan Spiced Lamb Shanks      Origin: Morocco	Mushroom and Burdock Soup      Origin: Fusion
Minutal ex Praecoquis (Apricot Ragout)      Origin: Roman	Morogo      Origin: South Africa	Mushroom Goulash      Origin: Britain
Minutal ex Rosis (Ragout of Roses)      Origin: Roman	Morogo Wa Dinawa (Bean Leaf Stew)      Origin: Botswana	Mushroom Stroganoff      Origin: Britain
Minutal Matianum (Pork with Apples)      Origin: Roman	Morogo with Butternut Squash      Origin: Botswana	Mushrooms à la Greque      Origin: France
Minutal Terentinum (Terentine Ragout)      Origin: Roman	Mortrews Blank (Meat in White Sauce)      Origin: England	Mushrooms Risotto      Origin: Italy
Mirkapaya Mamsam Koora      Origin: India	Moschari me Saltsa Aspri (Veal with White Sauce)      Origin: Cyprus	Muskels in Bruet (Mussels in Bruet)      Origin: England
Miyan Kuka (Baobab Leaf Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Moshari me Patates (Veal with Potatoes)      Origin: Cyprus	Mutabbaq Samak (Fried Pomfret with Rice)      Origin: Kuwait
Miyan Kuka II (Baobab Leaf Soup II)      Origin: Nigeria	Moula Kawal (Kawal Sauce)      Origin: Chad	Mutton and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion
Miyan Kuuka Soup (Fish and Baobab Leaf Powder Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Moutchentra (Lentil and Rice Pilaff)      Origin: Cyprus
Miyan Wake (Beans soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Mouton à l'Arachide (Lamb with Peanuts)      Origin: Benin

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