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 2198 recipes in total:

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Miyan Kuuka Soup (Fish and Baobab Leaf Powder Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Mtsolola à la viande (Bananas and Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Naengi-guk (Shepherd's Purse Soup)      Origin: Korea
Miyan Wake (Beans soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Mû Elamūtum (Elamite Broth)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Naga Curry      Origin: Fusion
Mkhwani with Groundnut Flour      Origin: Malawi	Muamba de Cabara (Goat Meat Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Namibian Black-eyed Peas      Origin: Namibia
Moambé Stew      Origin: Congo	Muamba de Galinha (Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Nandji      Origin: Mali
Mogatla (Oxtail Casserole)      Origin: Botswana	Muamba de Galinha (Angolan Chicken Muamba)      Origin: Angola	Nandji de Boeuf (Nandji of Beef)      Origin: Cote dIvoire
Mohinga      Origin: Myanmar	Mughlai Beef Biriani      Origin: India	Nanē Pia (Niuean Porridge)      Origin: Niue
Mokoto      Origin: Benin	Mughlai-style Camel Curry      Origin: India	Ndengu (Lentil Stew)      Origin: Kenya
Molokheya au Poulet (Chicken Molokhia)      Origin: Tunisia	Muhogo ya andzi Na nyama (Cassava with Meat)      Origin: Mayotte	Ndizi na Nyama (Plantains with Meat)      Origin: East Africa
Molokhia (Egyptian Greens Soup)      Origin: Egypt	Muland Saangi Ambat (Radish Pod Gravy)      Origin: India	Ndolé à la Viande (Bitterleaf with Meat)      Origin: Cameroon
Moloukhia (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Niger	Mullah Bamyah (Beef and Okra Stew)      Origin: Sudan	Nettle Greens and Peanut Stew      Origin: African Fusion
Monnchelet (Veal or Mutton Stew with Herbs and Egg Liaison)      Origin: England	Mullangi Sambar (White Radish Sambar)      Origin: India	Nevis-style Turkey Roti      Origin: Saint Kitts
Montenegrin Imam Bajeldi      Origin: Montenegro	Mumu      Origin: Papua New Guinea	New noumbles of dere (Fresh Deer Offal)      Origin: England
Montserratian Fisherman's Stew      Origin: Montserrat	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Syria	New Year's Hopping John      Origin: American
Montserratian Goat Water      Origin: Montserrat	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Jordan	Nga Myin Hin (Butter Fish Curry)      Origin: Myanmar
Montserratian Rice and Peas      Origin: Montserrat	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Lebanon	Ngukassa (Plantain Soup)      Origin: Central African Republic
Moong Pulao (Mung Bean Pulao)      Origin: Pakistan	Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac and Caramelized Onions)      Origin: Palestine	Nhopi (Corn Meal with Pumpkin)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Moongre ki Subzi (Radish Pod and Potato Sauté)      Origin: India	Mushroom and Burdock Soup      Origin: Fusion	Nhopi Dovi (Pumpkin with Groundnut Sauce)      Origin: Zimbabwe
Mopane Worms and Sorghum Porridge      Origin: Botswana	Mushroom Goulash      Origin: British	Nigerian Catfish Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Moqueca de Camarão (Prawn Stew)      Origin: Angola	Mushrooms à la Greque      Origin: France	Nigerian Chicken Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Moqueca de Pixe à Baiana (Grilled Fish, Baian Style)      Origin: Brazil	Mushrooms Risotto      Origin: Italy	Nigerian Fresh Fish Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Moro de guandules con coco (Christmas Rice and Pigeon Peas)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Muskels in Bruet (Mussels in Bruet)      Origin: England	Nigerian Goat Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Moroccan Braised Lamb      Origin: Morocco	Mutabbaq Samak (Fried Pomfret with Rice)      Origin: Kuwait	Nigerian Guinea Fowl Stew      Origin: Nigeria
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Shanks      Origin: Morocco	Mutton and Coconut Cream Curry      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Guineafowl Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Morogo      Origin: South Africa	Mutton in the Burmese Style      Origin: Fusion	Nigerian Spiced Grasscutter Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Morogo Wa Dinawa (Bean Leaf Stew)      Origin: Botswana	Mutton Kulambu (Pondicherry Mutton Curry)      Origin: India	Nigerian Spicy Scrambled Eggs      Origin: Nigeria
Mortrews Blank (Meat in White Sauce)      Origin: England	Mutton Pilau      Origin: India	Nihari Lamb      Origin: Pakistan
Moula Kawal (Kawal Sauce)      Origin: Chad	Mutton Rendang      Origin: Indonesia	Nila Bumbu Acar (Sour Spicy Carp)      Origin: Indonesia
Mouton à l'Arachide (Lamb with Peanuts)      Origin: Benin	Mutton Saag      Origin: India	Njahi in Coconut Sauce (Kenyan Black Beans in Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Kenya
Mouton au Curry (Mutton Curry)      Origin: France	Mykai (Mushrooms in Honey)      Origin: Roman	Njanga Rice      Origin: Cameroon
Moyo de Poulet Fume (Moyo of Smoked Chicken)      Origin: Benin	N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Nkatenkwan (Ghanaian Peanut Soup)      Origin: Ghana
Mozambique Peri-Peri      Origin: Mozambique	N'dolé avec Poisson (Fish and Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Gabon	Nohutlu Pilav (Pilaf with Chickpeas)      Origin: Turkey
Mozambique Prawns      Origin: Mozambique	N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Noteye (Nutty)      Origin: England
Mr Arnott's Currie      Origin: Britain	Naatukodi Pulusu (Country Chicken Sour Curry)      Origin: India
Mrefisa      Origin: Western Sahara	Naeamia bel Dakwa      Origin: Sudan

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