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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Ragoût Béninoise (Beninese Ragout)      Origin: Benin	Resalsike (Royal Fruit Stew)      Origin: England	Riz des Iles (Island Rice)      Origin: Comoros
Ragoût d'Ignames et Boeuf (Beef Stew with Yams)      Origin: Britain	Reshmi Gosht (Lamb Breast in Aromatic Sauce)      Origin: India	Riz Dion (Rice and Mushrooms)      Origin: Haiti
Ragoût de Chévre au Riz (Goat Stew with Rice)      Origin: DR-Congo	Ressi (Cypriot Wheat Pilaff)      Origin: Cyprus	Riz et Pois Collés (Haitian Rice with Peas)      Origin: Haiti
Ragoût de Porc au Citron Vert (Ragoût of Pork with Lime)      Origin: Senegal	Restaurant-style Chakalaka      Origin: South Africa	Riz Gras au Poulet (Fat Rice with Chicken)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Ragoût de Porc aux Potates Douces (Pork Stew with Sweet Potatoes)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Restaurant-style Monkfish Curry      Origin: Britain	Riz Gras du Burkinabé (Burkina Faso Fat Rice)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Ragoût Njansang (Njansang Stew)      Origin: Central African Republic	Rheinischer Sauerbraten (Rhenish Stewed Pickled Beef)      Origin: Germany	Riz haricots rouges antillais (Antillean Red Beans and Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Ragoût of Turkey      Origin: Britain	Rhubarb and Ginger Compote      Origin: Britain	Riz Jollof du Niger (Niger-style Jollof Rice)      Origin: Niger
Ragout Breton à la saucisse (Breton Stew with sausage)      Origin: France	Rhubarb and Pork Chop Casserole      Origin: Britain	Riz Wolof (Wolof Rice)      Origin: Guinea
Ragout d'Igname (Yam Porridge)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Rice and Peas      Origin: Jamaica	Romazava      Origin: Madagascar
Ragoût de cabri créole (Creole Goat Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Rice and Peas      Origin: Saint Kitts	Romee (Cornmeal Mush)      Origin: Georgia
Ragoût de chatrou créole (Creole Chatrou Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Rice Flour FuFu      Origin: Liberia	Roo Broth (Roe Deer in Broth)      Origin: England
Ragoût de lambi (Conch stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Rice Phala (Sweetened Rice Phala)      Origin: Malawi	Roosterkoek with Filling II      Origin: South Africa
Ragoût de poisson (Creole-style fish Stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Rice with Oil      Origin: Zambia	Ropa Vieja      Origin: Cuba
Ragout de Poisson au Njansang (Stewed Fish with Njansang)      Origin: Cameroon	Rice with Pigeon Peas      Origin: Puerto Rico	Rosehip Purée      Origin: Fusion
Ragù d'anatra (Venetian Duck Ragu)      Origin: Italy	Rifissa (Chicken and Lentil Stew)      Origin: Morocco	Rosemary-scented Lamb      Origin: Britain
Ragu di Carne      Origin: San Marino	Ris engoulé (Ris Engoule)      Origin: France	Rostbraten Mit Pilzfulle (Roast Beef with Mushroom Stuffing)      Origin: Germany
Rapa Nui Cazuela      Origin: Easter Island	Ris Gras Burkinabé      Origin: Burkina Faso	Rosto      Origin: Gibraltar
Rapas (Turnips)      Origin: Roman	Risoto Cranc Celtaidd a Chorgimychiaid Bae Ceredigion (Risotto of Celtic Crab and Cardigan Bay Prawns)      Origin: Welsh	Rougail de Saucisse (Sausage Rougail)      Origin: Reunion
Rapes in Potage (Turnips in Pottage)      Origin: England	Risoto o Ddail Poethion a Pherlysiau Gwyllt (Risotto of Nettles and Wild Herbs)      Origin: Welsh	Rougail Saucisse (Sausage Rougail)      Origin: Mauritius
Raspberry Coulis      Origin: Britain	Risotto al Funghi Porcini e Nepitella (Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Lesser Calamint)      Origin: Italy	Rougaille Boudin (Black Pudding in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Mauritius
Ratatouille      Origin: France	Risotto al Tonno (Risotto with Tuna)      Origin: Italy	Roz bi Laban (Egyptian Rice Pudding)      Origin: Egypt
Ravitoto sy Henakisoa (Pork with Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Madagascar	Risotto alla Arancia (Risotto with Orange)      Origin: Italy	Rukau      Origin: Cook Islands
Ravitoto sy Voanjo (Cassava Leaves with Peanuts)      Origin: Madagascar	Risotto alla Milanese      Origin: Italy	Rukau      Origin: Tuvalu
Rayo Saag Ra Sungur Ko Masu (Pork and Spinach Curry)      Origin: Nepal	Risotto alla Paesana (Risotto with Beans and Bacon)      Origin: Italy	Rukau      Origin: Tokelau
Real Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland	Risotto alle Erbe e Niputedda (Catmint and Herb Risotto)      Origin: Italy	Rwanda Goat Pelau      Origin: Rwanda
Rechta      Origin: Algeria	Risotto allo Zafferano (Saffron Risotto)      Origin: Switzerland	Rwandan Beef Stew      Origin: Rwanda
Red Cabbage with Glazed Onions      Origin: Belgium	Risotto con Prosciutto e Piselli (Risotto with Ham and Peas)      Origin: Italy	Rwandan Chicken      Origin: Rwanda
Red Curry Cambogee with Meat      Origin: Cambodia	Risotto Rucola (Wild Rocket Risotto)      Origin: Italy	Rwandan Porridge      Origin: Rwanda
Red Oil Greens      Origin: Liberia	Ritra d'Oie (Ritra of Goose)      Origin: Madagascar	Rys Lumbard Stondyne (Sweet Rice and Egg Pudding)      Origin: England
Red Oil Sweet Potato Greens      Origin: Liberia	Ritra de Canard (Ritra of Duck)      Origin: Madagascar	Saak-er Ghanto      Origin: Bangladesh
Red-cooked Pork      Origin: China	Riz au Gras ('Fat Rice')      Origin: Benin	Saare jerk-sealiha (Island Jerk Pork)      Origin: Dominica
Red-red      Origin: Ghana	Riz au Lait de Coco de Comores (Comorian Rice with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Comoros	Saba Callaloo      Origin: Saba
Redbush Stewed Beef and Potatoes      Origin: South Africa	Riz aux Oignons (Rice with Onions)      Origin: Congo
Renga Renga (Burundi Sweet Potato Leaf Stew)      Origin: Burundi	Riz Créole (Creole Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe

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