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 2116 recipes in total:

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Poulet Yassa Malienne (Malian Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Mali	Rabbit in Tomato and Emperor's Mint Sauce      Origin: Britain	Reshmi Gosht (Lamb Breast in Aromatic Sauce)      Origin: India
Prawn Kofta Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Rabbit in Tomato and Mint Sauce      Origin: Andorra	Restaurant-style Chakalaka      Origin: South Africa
Prawn Patia      Origin: India	Rabbit Pilaf      Origin: Uzbekistan	Restaurant-style Monkfish Curry      Origin: Britain
Prebranac (Serbian-style Baked Beans)      Origin: Serbia	Rabbit Pilaf      Origin: Uzbekistan	Rheinischer Sauerbraten (Rhenish Stewed Pickled Beef)      Origin: Germany
Pressure Cooker Baked Beans      Origin: American	Rabo Encendido (Spicy Dominican Oxtail Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Rhubarb and Ginger Compote      Origin: Britain
Pressure Cooker Beef and Stout Stew      Origin: Ireland	Rad Na Moo (Pork with Noodles in Gravy)      Origin: Thailand	Rice and Peas      Origin: Jamaica
Pressure Cooker Beef in Pepper Sauce      Origin: American	Ragoût aux épinards (Spinach Stew)      Origin: Central African Republic	Rice and Peas      Origin: Saint Kitts
Pressure Cooker Cajun Meatball Stew      Origin: American	Ragoût Béninoise (Beninese Ragout)      Origin: Benin	Rice Flour FuFu      Origin: Liberia
Pressure Cooker Curried Beef Stew      Origin: South Africa	Ragoût d'Ignames et Boeuf (Beef Stew with Yams)      Origin: British	Rice with Pigeon Peas      Origin: Puerto Rico
Pressure Cooker Curried Squash      Origin: Fusion	Ragoût de Chévre au Riz (Goat Stew with Rice)      Origin: DR-Congo	Rifissa (Chicken and Lentil Stew)      Origin: Morocco
Pressure Cooker Dhal      Origin: Fusion	Ragoût de Porc au Citron Vert (Ragoût of Pork with Lime)      Origin: Senegal	Ris engoulé (Ris Engoule)      Origin: France
Pressure Cooker Jambalaya      Origin: American	Ragoût Njansang (Njansang Stew)      Origin: Central African Republic	Ris Gras Burkinabé      Origin: Burkina Faso
Pressure Cooker Ratatouille      Origin: Britain	Ragoût of Turkey      Origin: Britain	Risoto Cranc Celtaidd a Chorgimychiaid Bae Ceredigion (Risotto of Celtic Crab and Cardigan Bay Prawns)      Origin: Welsh
Pressure Cooker Vegetable and Coconut Curry      Origin: Fusion	Ragout Breton à la saucisse (Breton Stew with sausage)      Origin: France	Risoto o Ddail Poethion a Pherlysiau Gwyllt (Risotto of Nettles and Wild Herbs)      Origin: Welsh
Psoai (Pork in Piquant Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Ragout d'Igname (Yam Porridge)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Risotto al Funghi Porcini e Nepitella (Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Lesser Calamint)      Origin: Italy
Pua’atoro aux Pommes de Terre Rissolées (Corned Beef with Fried Potatoes)      Origin: Tahiti	Ragoût de cabri créole (Creole Goat Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Risotto al Tonno (Risotto with Tuna)      Origin: Italy
Puerto Rican Picadillo (Puerto Rican Stewed Minced Beef)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Ragoût de chatrou créole (Creole Chatrou Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Risotto alla Arancia (Risotto with Orange)      Origin: Italy
Puhādi (Mesopotamian Lamb Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Ragoût de lambi (Conch stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Risotto alla Milanese      Origin: Italy
Pulled BBQ Pork Tacos with Wilted Cabbage Salad (Pulled BBQ Pork Tacos with Wilted Cabbage Salads)      Origin: Britain	Ragoût de poisson (Creole-style fish Stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Risotto alla Paesana (Risotto with Beans and Bacon)      Origin: Italy
Pultes (Meat Pottage)      Origin: Roman	Ragu di Carne      Origin: San Marino	Risotto alle Erbe e Niputedda (Catmint and Herb Risotto)      Origin: Italy
Pultes Cum Iure Oenococti (Pottage with Wine Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Rapa Nui Cazuela      Origin: Easter Island	Risotto allo Zafferano (Saffron Risotto)      Origin: Switzerland
Pumpkin Chili      Origin: American	Rapas (Turnips)      Origin: Roman	Risotto con Prosciutto e Piselli (Risotto with Ham and Peas)      Origin: Italy
Pumpkin Curry      Origin: Britain	Rapes in Potage (Turnips in Pottage)      Origin: England	Risotto Rucola (Wild Rocket Risotto)      Origin: Italy
Pumpkin Sambar      Origin: India	Raspberry Coulis      Origin: Britain	Riz au Gras ('Fat Rice')      Origin: Benin
Pumpkin Vine Tips Tarkari      Origin: Nepal	Ratatouille      Origin: France	Riz au Lait de Coco de Comores (Comorian Rice with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Comoros
Punjene Paprika (Stuffed Peppers)      Origin: Serbia	Rayo Saag Ra Sungur Ko Masu (Pork and Spinach Curry)      Origin: Nepal	Riz Créole (Creole Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Purée d'Aubergines (Aubergine Purée)      Origin: Rwanda	Real Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland	Riz des Iles (Island Rice)      Origin: Comoros
Qatari Jareesh      Origin: Qatar	Rechta      Origin: Algeria	Riz Dion (Rice and Mushrooms)      Origin: Haiti
Qatari Machboos      Origin: Qatar	Red Cabbage with Glazed Onions      Origin: Belgium	Riz et Pois Collés (Haitian Rice with Peas)      Origin: Haiti
Quabili Pilau (Lamb and Yellow Rice with Carrots and Raisins)      Origin: Afghanistan	Red Curry Cambogee with Meat      Origin: Cambodia	Riz Gras du Burkinabé (Burkina Faso Fat Rice)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Queue de Boeuf Pinon (Oxtail Pinon)      Origin: Togo	Red Oil Greens      Origin: Liberia	Riz haricots rouges antillais (Antillean Red Beans and Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Quizaca (Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Angola	Red-red      Origin: Ghana	Riz Wolof (Wolof Rice)      Origin: Guinea
Qurutob      Origin: Tajikistan	Renga Renga (Burundi Sweet Potato Leaf Stew)      Origin: Burundi
Râgout de Boeuf aux Bananes (Beef Stew with Plantains)      Origin: Central African Republic	Resalsike (Royal Fruit Stew)      Origin: England

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