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 2379 recipes in total:

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Chili Chicken      Origin: American	Classic Vindaloo Curry      Origin: India	Connynges in Clere Broth (Rabbits in Clear Broth)      Origin: England
Chili Con Carne      Origin: Fusion	Cocoa Nib Curried King Prawns      Origin: American	Connynges in Syrup (Rabbits in Syrup)      Origin: England
Chili Con Carne II      Origin: Fusion	Cocodrilo en su Salsa (Crocodile in Sauce)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Contrichop      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Chili Marrakech      Origin: Britain	Coconut Collard Greens      Origin: Puerto Rico	Conynges in Cynee (Rabbits in Blood and Vinegar Broth with Onion)      Origin: England
Chilli Crab      Origin: Singapore	Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Palau	Conynges in Gravey (Rabbits in Gravy)      Origin: England
Chilli Crab      Origin: New Caledonia	Coconut Crab Delight      Origin: Palau	Coq-au-Vin      Origin: France
Chipirones à la Criolla (Creole-style Squid)      Origin: Mexico	Coconut Crab in Coconut Milk      Origin: Pitcairn Islands	Corate      Origin: England
Chipotle Chicken Tinga      Origin: Mexico	Coconut Curry      Origin: Seychelles	Corate II      Origin: England
Chitoumou      Origin: Burkina Faso	Coconut Curry Chicken With Roti      Origin: Antigua	Cordula (Braided Lamb Intestines)      Origin: Italy
Chivichanga de Machaga      Origin: America	Coconut Curry Fish      Origin: Nauru	Cornish Fisherman's Stew      Origin: England
Chivo Guisado Liniero (Spicy Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Coconut Fish      Origin: Nauru	Costa Rican-Style Beans      Origin: Costa Rica
Chivo Picante (Dominican Spicy Goat)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Coconut Fish Curry      Origin: Fusion	Cotswold Dumplings      Origin: England
Cholent Dafina (Moroccan Sabbath Stew)      Origin: Morocco	Coconut Lobster      Origin: Britain	Country Style Guinea Fowl Potje      Origin: Southern Africa
Choroko Sauce      Origin: Uganda	Cocotte de poulet au cidre (Chicken Casseroled in Cider)      Origin: France	County Cork Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland
Christmas Island Beriani      Origin: Christmas Island	Cold Bruet (Cold Brewet)      Origin: England	Courges avec des arachides (Squash with Peanuts)      Origin: Gabon
Christmas Island Crab Rendang      Origin: Christmas Island	Coliflor Salteado (Sautéed Cauliflower with Garlic)      Origin: Spain	Courgette Curry with Himalayan Balsam Seed Pods      Origin: Britain
Chubbagin Lélé et Raabie      Origin: Mauritania	Collard Greens      Origin: American	Court-bouillon de Poisson à la Créole (Creole-style Fish Court-bouillon)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Chubolet (Fish Balls in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Gambia	Collard Greens with Ham Hocks      Origin: American	Couscous à la Nigérienne (Niger-style Couscous)      Origin: Niger
Chuck Rice with Gravy      Origin: Liberia	Collards and Cabbage      Origin: Liberia	Couscous de Fonio au Poulet (Fonio Couscous with Chicken)      Origin: Togo
Chuño Phuti      Origin: Bolivia	Colocassi Tsakristo (Taro and Pork Stew)      Origin: Cyprus	Couscous de Timbuktu      Origin: Mali
Chycches (Vetches)      Origin: England	Colombo d'Agneau à la Mauricienne (Mauritian-style Colombo of Lamb)      Origin: Mauritius	Couscous et Sauce Tomate (Couscous with Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Chyches (Roast Chickpeas)      Origin: England	Colombo de Martinique      Origin: Martinique	Couscous with Mushroom Ragout      Origin: Britain
Chyckenys in Caudel (Chickens in Caudle)      Origin: England	Comlek (Rabbit Casserole)      Origin: Albania	Cow Skin      Origin: West Africa
Chykenes in Gravey (Chicken in Gravy)      Origin: England	Comorian Coconut Curry Chicken      Origin: Comoros	Cozido à portuguesa (Portuguese Meat Stew)      Origin: Portugal
Chysanne (A Dish to be Eaten Cold)      Origin: England	Comorian Pilaou      Origin: Comoros	Crab and Rice      Origin: Bahamas
Cig Eidion Mewn Cwrw (Beef in Beer)      Origin: Welsh	Compota de Uvas con Crujiente de Boniato (Grape Compote with Crispy Sweet Potato)      Origin: Spain	Crab and Rice      Origin: Turks Caicos
Cig Llo â Chorbys (Veal with Lentils)      Origin: Welsh	Compote de Rhubarbe Sauvage (Wild Rhubarb Compote)      Origin: Switzerland	Crabes Épicées (Pepper Crabs)      Origin: Guinea
Cincinnati Chili      Origin: America	Compote of Greengages      Origin: Britain	Crabs (Marshallese Coconut Crab)      Origin: Marshall Islands
Cincinnati-style Coney Dog Chili      Origin: American	Conch and Dumplings      Origin: Sint Maarten	Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs      Origin: American
Cinnamon Spiced Jollof Rice      Origin: Sierra Leone	Conchiclam Apicianam (Dried Peas à la Apicius)      Origin: Roman	Crayfish Curry      Origin: South Africa
Citrus Goat Meat Stew      Origin: Tanzania	Confit d'Oie (Confit of Goose)      Origin: France	Cream Schnitzel      Origin: Germany
Civet de Cerf (Venison Stew)      Origin: Reunion	Congee with Fish Fillet      Origin: China	Creole Succotash      Origin: America
Civet of Hare      Origin: Britain	Conger in sawce (Conger Eels in Sauce)      Origin: England
Classic Baked Beans      Origin: Britain	Congre à la bretonne (Breton-style Conger Eel)      Origin: France

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