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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Chicken and Leek Hotpot      Origin: Ireland	Chicken Suprême      Origin: France	Chubolet (Fish Balls in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Gambia
Chicken and Peanut Thai Curry      Origin: Thailand	Chicken Tagine with Honey and Apricots      Origin: Morocco	Chuck Rice with Gravy      Origin: Liberia
Chicken and Vegetable Curry      Origin: Senegal	Chicken Thigh and Wallfish Paella      Origin: British	Chuño Phuti      Origin: Bolivia
Chicken Benachin      Origin: Cameroon	Chicken Vindaloo      Origin: India	Chuwe Gunar (Gambian Chicken Stew)      Origin: Gambia
Chicken Boileen      Origin: Saint Vincent	Chicken White Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Chycches (Vetches)      Origin: England
Chicken Bonnie Prince Charlie      Origin: Scotland	Chicken with Potatoes, Tomatoes and Fennel      Origin: Ireland	Chyches (Roast Chickpeas)      Origin: England
Chicken Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Chicken with Spiced Rice      Origin: Australia	Chyckenys in Caudel (Chickens in Caudle)      Origin: England
Chicken Curry with Greens      Origin: India	Chicken with Spices and Soy Sauce      Origin: Malaysia	Chykenes in Gravey (Chicken in Gravy)      Origin: England
Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Malaysia	Chicken-Sausage Jambalaya      Origin: Cajun	Chysanne (A Dish to be Eaten Cold)      Origin: England
Chicken Curry with Potatoes (FChicken Curry with Potatoes)      Origin: Cocos Islands	Chickennat      Origin: Uganda	Cig Eidion Mewn Cwrw (Beef in Beer)      Origin: Welsh
Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Christmas Island	Chilaca Pork Stew      Origin: Mexico	Cig Llo â Chorbys (Veal with Lentils)      Origin: Welsh
Chicken Curry with Yams      Origin: Fusion	Chile con Queso (Chili with Cheese)      Origin: American	Cincinnati Chili      Origin: America
Chicken Dupiaza      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Chile Verde (Green Chili)      Origin: Mexico	Cincinnati-style Coney Dog Chili      Origin: American
Chicken Gravy      Origin: Liberia	Chili Beans      Origin: American	Cinnamon Spiced Jollof Rice      Origin: Sierra Leone
Chicken Guisado      Origin: India	Chili Chicken      Origin: American	Citrus Goat Meat Stew      Origin: Tanzania
Chicken Imoyo II      Origin: Nigeria	Chili Con Carne      Origin: Fusion	Civet de Cerf (Venison Stew)      Origin: Reunion
Chicken Jalfrezi      Origin: Britain	Chili Con Carne II      Origin: Fusion	Civet de Sanglier aux Champignons, Châtaignes et Chorizo (Wild Boar Stew with Mushrooms, Chestnuts and Chorizo Sausage)      Origin: France
Chicken Kabsa      Origin: Saudi Arabia	Chili Marrakech      Origin: Britain	Civet of Hare      Origin: Britain
Chicken Machboos      Origin: Bahrain	Chilli Crab      Origin: Singapore	Classic Baked Beans      Origin: Britain
Chicken Machboos      Origin: Oman	Chilli Crab      Origin: New Caledonia	Classic Vindaloo Curry      Origin: India
Chicken Machbous (Chicken Machboos)      Origin: Iraq	Chilorio (Shredded Pork in Ancho-Orange Sauce)      Origin: Mexico	Cocoa Nib Curried King Prawns      Origin: American
Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Oman	Chipirones à la Criolla (Creole-style Squid)      Origin: Mexico	Cocodrilo en su Salsa (Crocodile in Sauce)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Qatar	Chipotle Chicken Tinga      Origin: Mexico	Coconut Collard Greens      Origin: Puerto Rico
Chicken Madrouba      Origin: Bahrain	Chirino me Kolokassi (Pork with Taro)      Origin: Cyprus	Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Palau
Chicken Makhani      Origin: Bangladesh	Chitoumou      Origin: Burkina Faso	Coconut Crab Delight      Origin: Palau
Chicken Paprikash      Origin: Hungary	Chivichanga de Machaga      Origin: America	Coconut Crab in Coconut Milk      Origin: Pitcairn Islands
Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: West Africa	Chivo Guisado Liniero (Spicy Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Coconut Curry      Origin: Seychelles
Chicken Pepper Soup      Origin: Sierra Leone	Chivo Picante (Dominican Spicy Goat)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Coconut Curry Chicken With Roti      Origin: Antigua
Chicken Potjie with Dumplings      Origin: Botswana	Cholent Dafina (Moroccan Sabbath Stew)      Origin: Morocco	Coconut Curry Fish      Origin: Nauru
Chicken Rice      Origin: Malaysia	Chorizo, Prune and Almond Stew      Origin: Britain	Coconut Fish      Origin: Nauru
Chicken Rice      Origin: Singapore	Choroko Sauce      Origin: Uganda	Coconut Fish Curry      Origin: Fusion
Chicken Rice      Origin: Christmas Island	Christmas Island Beriani      Origin: Christmas Island	Coconut Lobster      Origin: Britain
Chicken Seychelles      Origin: Seychelles	Christmas Island Crab Rendang      Origin: Christmas Island
Chicken Shashlick      Origin: Pakistan	Chubbagin Lélé et Raabie      Origin: Mauritania

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