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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Benin Red Sauce      Origin: Benin	Bobor Taro (Taro Root Pudding)      Origin: Cambodia	Braised Meatballs      Origin: China
Beninese Beef Stew      Origin: Benin	Boerwors Maalvleis Kerrie (Boerwors Minced Meat Curry)      Origin: South Africa	Braised Pigeons with Cherries      Origin: Zambia
Beninese Goat Stew      Origin: Benin	Boeuf aux Chocolat Gabonnaise (Beef with Gabon Chocolate)      Origin: Gabon	Braised Pork Ribs and Taro Stew      Origin: Hong Kong
Beninese Jollof Rice      Origin: Benin	Boeuf Bourguignon      Origin: France	Bratwurst im Bier, Berin-art (Bratwurst in Beer, Berlin Style)      Origin: Germany
Beriani      Origin: Brunei	Boeuf en Daube      Origin: France	Brewet of Almayn (Bruet of Almonds)      Origin: England
Berkoukes      Origin: Algeria	Boeuf et Feuilles de Manioc (Beef and Cassava Greens in Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Gabon	Brined Cabbage Sarma      Origin: North Macedonia
Berry Compote      Origin: New Zealand	Boiled Beef and Carrots      Origin: Britain	British Virgin Islands Peas Soup      Origin: British Virgin Islands
Beshbarmak (Meat and Pasta Dish)      Origin: Kazakhstan	Boiled Ham      Origin: Britain	Brodet na Dalmatinski Nacin (Fish, Dalmatian Style)      Origin: Serbia
Beshbarmak (Meat and Pasta Dish)      Origin: Kyrgyzstan	Boko Boko Harees (Chicken with Bulgur Wheat)      Origin: Burundi	Bruet Sarcenes (Saracen Brewet)      Origin: England
Betaceos Varronis (Beets à la Varro)      Origin: Roman	Boletos Aliter (Boletes, Another Way II)      Origin: Roman	Bruine Bonen (Suriname-style Kidney Bean Stew)      Origin: Suriname
Betas (Beetroot with Leeks in Wine)      Origin: Roman	Bolo and Trotter Potjie      Origin: Namibia	Bruine Bonen met Rijst (Brown Beans with Rice)      Origin: Suriname
Betas Minutas et Porros (Young Beetroot and Leeks)      Origin: Roman	Bonava (Meat and Potatoes Stew)      Origin: Mauritania	Brunswick Stew      Origin: American
Bhuna Khichuri      Origin: Bangladesh	Bonava (Mauritanian Lamb Stew)      Origin: Mauritania	Buckwheat Kasha      Origin: Ukraine
Big Bowl Chili      Origin: American	Bonito con Cebolla y Tomate (Bonito with Onion and Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Spain	Buckwheat Kasha      Origin: Kazakhstan
Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew)      Origin: Poland	Boo with Okra      Origin: Uganda	Bufuke with Onion Sauce      Origin: Uganda
Bigos (Lithuanian Hunter's Stew)      Origin: Lithuania	Borulce (Black-eyed Pea Stew)      Origin: Turkey	Bukharan Pilaf      Origin: Uzbekistan
Binyewa (Ugandan Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Uganda	Botswanan Cabbage      Origin: Botswana	Bukkeande      Origin: England
Birch Sap and Cleavers Risotto      Origin: Britain	Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew      Origin: Botswana	Bulgarian Beef and Potato Moussaka      Origin: Bulgaria
Biriani de Poulet (Chicken Biriani)      Origin: Mauritius	Bottle Masala Chicken Curry      Origin: Britain	Bulgur Pilaf      Origin: Turkey
Biscuit-topped Lamb Casserole      Origin: America	Bougna      Origin: New Caledonia	Bulgur Wan Pot      Origin: Sierra Leone
Bisort Bolognese      Origin: Fusion	Bougna      Origin: Wallis Futuna	Bunyoro Stew      Origin: Uganda
Bissap Beuguedj (Hibiscus Leaf Paste)      Origin: Senegal	Bouillabaisse      Origin: France	Burrida Ligure (Genoese Fish Stew)      Origin: Italy
Bistecca di San Marino (Steak San Marino)      Origin: San Marino	Bouillabaisse with Rouille and Croutons      Origin: France	Bursen      Origin: England
Black Bean Huevos Rancheros      Origin: Mexico	Bouillon d'awara (Awara Broth)      Origin: French Guiana	Burseu (A Dish of Minced Meat)      Origin: England
Black Beans      Origin: Mexico	Bouillon de Crabes (Swimmer Crab Bouillon)      Origin: Mauritius	Burundi Beans and Plantains      Origin: Burundi
Black-eyed Pea Gumbo      Origin: Cajun	Bouillon de Petits Crabes (Stew of Small Crabs)      Origin: Mauritius	Burundian Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce      Origin: Burundi
Blaff de poisson (Fish Blaff)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Boulgour aux Fruits Secs (Bulgur Wheat with Dried Fruit)      Origin: Mauritania	Burundian Igitoke      Origin: Burundi
Blaff de poisson (Fish Blaff)      Origin: French Guiana	Bourguignon de cerf (Venison Bourguignon)      Origin: France	Burundian Isombe (Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Burundi
Blancs de Poulet au Gingembre et à la Cardamome (Chicken Breasts with Ginger and Cardamom)      Origin: Madagascar	Bourguignon de cerf (Venison Bourguignon)      Origin: New Caledonia	Burundian Ubugali (Cassava Porridge)      Origin: Burundi
Blank Dessorre      Origin: England	Bourride      Origin: Britain	Butternut Squash and Pea Risotto      Origin: Britain
Blanquette de Porc (Pork in White Sauce)      Origin: France	Bozartma (Lamb Stewed with Vegetables and Cherry Plums)      Origin: Azerbaijan	Bygan Dhal      Origin: India
Blanquette de Veau (Veal in White Sauce)      Origin: France	Braf (Broth)      Origin: Dominica	Bœuf à la bretonne (Breton-style beef)      Origin: France
Blue Bayou Jambalaya      Origin: Cajun	Braised Egg Dumplings in Chilli Broth      Origin: China
Bo Kho (Spicy Beef Stew)      Origin: Vietnam	Braised Lamb Shanks with Cannellini Beans      Origin: Britain

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