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 1816 recipes in total:

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Ghanaian Chicken Jollof Rice      Origin: Ghana	Grenada Curry Goat      Origin: Grenada	Habichuelas Guisadas (Dominican Bean Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic
Ghanaian Pepper Soup      Origin: Ghana	Grenada Oil Down      Origin: Grenada	Habichuelas Negras (Puerto Rican Stewed Black Beans)      Origin: Puerto Rico
Gheema      Origin: British	Grenadian Chicken Curry      Origin: Grenada	Haddock Supper      Origin: Ireland
Gheema Curry      Origin: South Africa	Grenadian Coconut Curry Chicken      Origin: Grenada	Haenau Cig Oen gyda Pannas a Chennin (Slices of Lamb with Parsnips and Leeks)      Origin: Welsh
Gibelotte aux Amandes (Gibelotte with Almonds)      Origin: France	Grenadian Nutmeg Chicken Curry      Origin: Grenada	Halibut and Tomato Curry      Origin: Britain
Gingko Rice      Origin: Fusion	Grenadian Pelau      Origin: Grenada	Haluwa (Carrot Sweetmeat)      Origin: Tanzania
Glace de Viande      Origin: France	Grewel Forced (Meat Gruel)      Origin: England	Hares in Papdele (Hare Stew on a Bread Base)      Origin: England
Goan Crab Claw Curry      Origin: India	Grilled Mackerel with Spicy Dahl      Origin: South Africa	Hares in Talbotes (Hares in Hare-blood Sauce)      Origin: England
Goan Lamb Xacutti      Origin: India	Grima Fish Curry      Origin: Kenya	Haricots Blancs à la Bretonne (Breton-style White Beans)      Origin: France
Goat curry      Origin: India	Gronden Benes (Ground Beans)      Origin: England	Harira      Origin: Djibouti
Goat Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Pakistan	Gruel of almanndes (Gruel of Almonds)      Origin: England	Hawthorn Berry Sauce      Origin: Britain
Goat in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion	Gruyau (A Gruel of Husked Barley)      Origin: France	Heat Wave Chili      Origin: American
Goat Meat and Root Vegetable Stew in Ale      Origin: Britain	Guam Chicken Curry      Origin: Guam	Hebolace      Origin: England
Goat Meat Soup      Origin: Liberia	Guiana Rice and Peas      Origin: French Guiana	Hena-Kisoa sy voanjobory (Pork with Bambara Groundnuts)      Origin: Madagascar
Goat Water      Origin: Antigua	Guinea Fowl with Coconut Cream      Origin: Zimbabwe	Henne in Bokenade (Hen in Sauce)      Origin: England
Goat Water      Origin: Saint Kitts	Guineafowl with Grapes      Origin: Britain	Herbed Dumplings      Origin: Britain
Gombo et Kissar (Okra Stew with Kissar)      Origin: Chad	Guinean Avocado Sauce      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Herring Rougail (Le Rougail Z'hareng)      Origin: Reunion
Gombos au Boeuf (Beef and Okra)      Origin: Central African Republic	Guinean Spinach Sauce      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Hervido de pescado (Boiled Fish with Vegetables)      Origin: Costa Rica
Goose Risotto      Origin: Fusion	Guinness Bottle Chicken Stew      Origin: Saint Vincent	Highland Venison Casserole with Chestnuts      Origin: Scotland
Gormeh Sabzi (Persian Lamb and Herb Stew)      Origin: Iran	Guisado de la Quinoa (Quinoa Stew)      Origin: Peru	Himalayan Balsam Seed Curry      Origin: Fusion
Gosht Pullao (Beef Pullao)      Origin: India	Guisado del Inca (Inca Stew)      Origin: Peru	Hlalem (Pasta with Beans)      Origin: Tunisia
Goulash      Origin: Hungary	Guisado Perviuano de la Calabaza (Peruvian Pumpkin Stew)      Origin: Peru	Holdermus (Elderberry Mush)      Origin: Germany
Gourdes in Potage (Pottage of Gourd)      Origin: England	Guiso de Conejoa (Rabbit Stew)      Origin: Peru	Home-made Anchovy Essence      Origin: Britain
Grain Mustard Based Fish Curry      Origin: India	Gulai Kambing (Sumatran Goat Curry)      Origin: Martinique	Hong am Rèisleck (Chicken Cooked in Wine)      Origin: Luxembourg
Grannat Chop      Origin: Sierra Leone	Gustum de Cucurbitis (Gourd Antipasto)      Origin: Roman	Hoppin’ John      Origin: America
Grasscutter Soup with Okra      Origin: Ghana	Gustum de Holeribus (Vegetable Relish)      Origin: Roman	Hot Chili Beans      Origin: American
Grasscutter Stew      Origin: Ghana	Gustum de praecoquiis (Starter with Apricots)      Origin: Roman	Hot Green Tamarind Chicken      Origin: Indonesia
Gratin Christophine (Chayote Gratin)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Gustum Versatile (Turnover Antipasto)      Origin: Roman	Hot Pinto Bean Chili      Origin: American
Gratin de pommes de terre des Antilles (Antilles Potato Gratin)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Casserole      Origin: Britain	Hot Turkey and Black Bean Chili      Origin: American
Green Bean Bredie      Origin: South Africa	Guyanese Cook-up Rice and Peas      Origin: Guyana	Hotpot Porc Cymreig, Chorizo a Ffa Gwynion (Welsh Pork, Chorizo and White Bean Hotpot)      Origin: Welsh
Green Beans in Coconut Sauce      Origin: Fusion	Guyanese Crab Callaloo      Origin: Guyana	Hotpot Porc y Gaeaf (Wintery Pork Hotpot)      Origin: Welsh
Green Duck Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian	Guyanese Pepper Pot      Origin: Guyana	Ifisashi (Bean Leaves with Peanuts)      Origin: Zambia
Green Pea and Liver Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Gwledd y Cybydd (The Miser's Feast)      Origin: Welsh
Grenada Callaloo Soup      Origin: Grenada	Gynggaudy      Origin: England

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