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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Mutton in Stout      Origin: Ireland	Nga Myin Hin (Butter Fish Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Nyebbeh with Oli Gravy      Origin: Gambia
Mutton in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion	Ngukassa (Plantain Soup)      Origin: Central African Republic	Nyekoe (Lesotho Sorghum and Beans)      Origin: Lesotho
Mutton Kulambu (Pondicherry Mutton Curry)      Origin: India	Ngunza et Boule de Manioc (Ngunza and Cassava Balls)      Origin: Central African Republic	Nyeleng (Beef and Peanut Gumbo)      Origin: Senegal
Mutton Pilau      Origin: India	Nhopi (Corn Meal with Pumpkin)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Nyete Greens with Peanut Butter      Origin: South Sudan
Mutton Rendang      Origin: Indonesia	Nhopi Dovi (Pumpkin with Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Nyma ye Huku (Zimbabwean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Mutton Saag      Origin: India	Nigerian Beans Porridge      Origin: Nigeria	Oaxacan Black Beans with Avocado Leaf      Origin: Mexico
Mutton with Peppers and Chironji      Origin: India	Nigerian Catfish Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Obe Ata (Nigerian Pepper Soup)      Origin: Nigeria
Mykai (Mushrooms in Honey)      Origin: Roman	Nigerian Chicken Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Obe Ata Dindin (Nigerian Red Sauce)      Origin: Nigeria
N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Nigerian Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Obe Efo Elegusi (Egusi Soup)      Origin: Nigeria
N'dolé avec Poisson (Fish and Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Gabon	Nigerian Goat Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Obe Eja Dindin (Fried Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Nigerian Groundnut Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Obe Eja Tutu (Fresh Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
N'dzan (Hibiscus Leaves Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Nigerian Guinea Fowl Stew      Origin: Nigeria	Obe-Onigba (Garden Egg Sauce)      Origin: Nigeria
Naatukodi Pulusu (Country Chicken Sour Curry)      Origin: India	Nigerian Guineafowl Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ock-lam (Barbecued Pork with Mushrooms and Beans)      Origin: Laos
Naeamia bel Dakwa      Origin: Sudan	Nigerian Spiced Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Octopus Curry      Origin: Seychelles
Naengi-guk (Shepherd's Purse Soup)      Origin: Korea	Nigerian Spiced Goat Meat Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ofadà (Green Soup)      Origin: Nigeria
Naga Curry      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Spiced Grasscutter Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass Stew)      Origin: Nigeria
Namibian Beef Stew With Potatoes And Carrots      Origin: Namibia	Nigerian Spiced Mixed Meat Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ofe-Owerri Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Namibian Black-eyed Peas      Origin: Namibia	Nigerian Spicy Scrambled Eggs      Origin: Nigeria	Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)      Origin: Roman
Nandji      Origin: Mali	Nihari Lamb      Origin: Pakistan	Ogbono Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Nandji de Boeuf (Nandji of Beef)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Nila Bumbu Acar (Sour Spicy Carp)      Origin: Indonesia	Ogbono Soup with Waterleaf      Origin: Nigeria
Nandji Ivorienne      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Njahi in Coconut Sauce (Kenyan Black Beans in Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Kenya	Oignons à la Monégasque (Sweet and Sour Onions, Monegasque Style)      Origin: Monaco
Nane Flor (Pig's Feet Stew)      Origin: Ghana	Njanga Rice      Origin: Cameroon	Ojja Merguez      Origin: Tunisia
Nanē Pia (Niuean Porridge)      Origin: Niue	Nkatenkwan (Ghanaian Peanut Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Okok (Eru Leaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon
Ndambé à la Sauce Tomateh (Bean and Meat Stew in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Senegal	Nkrakrakwam (Ghanaian Light Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Okra Fungi      Origin: British Virgin Islands
Ndambé Blanc (White Bean and Meat Stew)      Origin: Senegal	Nohutlu Pilav (Pilaf with Chickpeas)      Origin: Turkey	Okra in Tomato Sauce with Emperor's Mint      Origin: African Fusion
Ndengu (Lentil Stew)      Origin: Kenya	Northern Irish Beef Stew      Origin: Northern Ireland	Okro Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Ndizi na Nyama (Plantains with Meat)      Origin: East Africa	Noteye (Nutty)      Origin: England	Oktapodhi Krasato (Octopus in Wine)      Origin: Cyprus
Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon	Nowmbyls of Muskyls (Mussels in Almond Milk Sauce)      Origin: England	Okwuru Ugba (Okra and Ugba Soup)      Origin: Nigeria
Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Numb-fish (Electric Ray)      Origin: Roman	Olla de Carne      Origin: Costa Rica
Nevis-style Turkey Roti      Origin: Saint Kitts	Nwa Mee Hinga (Oxtail and Watercress)      Origin: Myanmar	Olusatra (Alexanders with Raisin Sauce)      Origin: Roman
New Caledonia Civet de Cerf (Venison Stew)      Origin: New Caledonia	Nyaba      Origin: Sudan	Omajova-Pilz-Ragout mit Hirse (Omajova Mushroom Ragout with Millet)      Origin: Namibia
New noumbles of dere (Fresh Deer Offal)      Origin: England	Nyama ya Figo (Beef and Kidneys)      Origin: Tanzania	Ombidi (Namibian Spinach Stew)      Origin: Namibia
New Year's Hopping John      Origin: American	Nyama yeMbudzi (Traditional Zimbabwean Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe
New York Style Hotdogs      Origin: American	Nyambeh Nyebbeh (Black-eyed Bean stew with Cassava)      Origin: Ghana

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