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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Cocotte de poulet au cidre (Chicken Casseroled in Cider)      Origin: France	Cornish Fisherman's Stew      Origin: England	Crockpot Chili with Four Kinds of Beans      Origin: American
Cold Bruet (Cold Brewet)      Origin: England	Costa Rican-Style Beans      Origin: Costa Rica	Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage      Origin: Ireland
Coliflor Salteado (Sautéed Cauliflower with Garlic)      Origin: Spain	Cotswold Dumplings      Origin: England	Crockpot Curry Hotpot      Origin: Fusion
Collard Greens      Origin: American	Country Style Guinea Fowl Potje      Origin: Southern Africa	Cucumer Pob (Baked Cucumber)      Origin: Welsh
Collard Greens with Coconut Milk      Origin: East Africa	County Cork Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland	Cucurbitas cum Gallina (Gourds with Chicken)      Origin: Roman
Collard Greens with Ham Hocks      Origin: American	Courges avec des arachides (Squash with Peanuts)      Origin: Gabon	Cucurbitas Elixatas (Stewed Gourds)      Origin: Roman
Collards and Cabbage      Origin: Liberia	Courgette Curry with Himalayan Balsam Seed Pods      Origin: Britain	Cucurbitas Frictas (Fried Gourds)      Origin: Roman
Colocassi Tsakristo (Taro and Pork Stew)      Origin: Cyprus	Courgettes à la Monégasque (Monaco-style Courgettes)      Origin: Monaco	Cucurbitas iure Colocasorium (Gourds Cooked as Broad Beans)      Origin: Roman
Colokassi Mesatrico (Colocassi, Mesoorias Style)      Origin: Cyprus	Court-bouillon de Poisson à la Créole (Creole-style Fish Court-bouillon)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Cucurbitas mode Alexandrino (Alexandrine Melon)      Origin: Roman
Colombo d'Agneau à la Mauricienne (Mauritian-style Colombo of Lamb)      Origin: Mauritius	Couscous à la Nigérienne (Niger-style Couscous)      Origin: Niger	Cunillo (Rabbit in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Andorra
Colombo de Martinique      Origin: Martinique	Couscous d'Orge à la Sauce Blanche (Barley Couscous with White Sauce)      Origin: Algeria	Curried Beef      Origin: Britain
Comlek (Rabbit Casserole)      Origin: Albania	Couscous de Fonio au Poulet (Fonio Couscous with Chicken)      Origin: Togo	Curried Beef and Squash      Origin: Tanzania
Comorian Coconut Curry Chicken      Origin: Comoros	Couscous de Timbuktu      Origin: Mali	Curried Beef Gratin      Origin: African Fusion
Comorian Pilaou      Origin: Comoros	Couscous et Sauce Tomate (Couscous with Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Curried Beef in Red Wine      Origin: Britain
Compota de Uvas con Crujiente de Boniato (Grape Compote with Crispy Sweet Potato)      Origin: Spain	Couscous with Mushroom Ragout      Origin: Britain	Curried Beef Stew      Origin: South Africa
Compote de Rhubarbe Sauvage (Wild Rhubarb Compote)      Origin: Switzerland	Cow Skin      Origin: West Africa	Curried Cabbage      Origin: West Africa
Compote of Greengages      Origin: Britain	Cozido à portuguesa (Portuguese Meat Stew)      Origin: Portugal	Curried Chestnut Soup      Origin: Britain
Conch and Dumplings      Origin: Sint Maarten	Crab and Rice      Origin: Bahamas	Curried Chicken      Origin: Saint Kitts
Conchiclam Apicianam (Dried Peas à la Apicius)      Origin: Roman	Crab and Rice      Origin: Turks Caicos	Curried Cod      Origin: Britain
Coney Island Hot Dogs      Origin: American	Crabes Épicées (Pepper Crabs)      Origin: Guinea	Curried Corn      Origin: Somalia
Confit d'Oie (Confit of Goose)      Origin: France	Crabs (Marshallese Coconut Crab)      Origin: Marshall Islands	Curried Fruit Bake      Origin: American
Congee with Fish Fillet      Origin: China	Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs      Origin: American	Curried Gazelle      Origin: Zambia
Conger in sawce (Conger Eels in Sauce)      Origin: England	Crayfish Curry      Origin: South Africa	Curried Goat      Origin: Jamaica
Congre à la bretonne (Breton-style Conger Eel)      Origin: France	Cream Schnitzel      Origin: Germany	Curried Mushrooms and Rice      Origin: Fusion
Connynges in Clere Broth (Rabbits in Clear Broth)      Origin: England	Creole Succotash      Origin: America	Curried Mutton      Origin: Britain
Connynges in Syrup (Rabbits in Syrup)      Origin: England	Cricket and Two-bean Chili      Origin: Fusion	Curried Mutton Stew      Origin: South Africa
Contrichop      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Croatian Sarma      Origin: Croatia	Curried Neck of Mutton Potjie      Origin: Namibia
Conynges in Cynee (Rabbits in Blood and Vinegar Broth with Onion)      Origin: England	Crockpot Bayou Gumbo      Origin: American	Curried Rice with Beef      Origin: Ghana
Conynges in Gravey (Rabbits in Gravy)      Origin: England	Crockpot Beef Chili      Origin: American	Curried Salmon      Origin: Britain
Coq au Vin      Origin: France	Crockpot Black Bean Chili      Origin: American	Curried Scallops in Coconut Milk with Stevia      Origin: American
Coq-au-Vin II      Origin: France	Crockpot Black Bean Chili with Pork      Origin: American	Curried Sosaties      Origin: South Africa
Corate      Origin: England	Crockpot Chicken Chili      Origin: American	Curried Spinach with peanut butter      Origin: Burundi
Corate II      Origin: England	Crockpot Chili      Origin: American
Cordula (Braided Lamb Intestines)      Origin: Italy	Crockpot Chili Con Carne      Origin: American

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