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 2366 recipes in total:

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Nigerian Spiced Goat Meat Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ofellas Apicianas (Starters, Apician Style)      Origin: Roman	Palaver Chicken      Origin: Ghana
Nigerian Spiced Grasscutter Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ogbono Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Palm Butter Soup      Origin: Liberia
Nigerian Spiced Mixed Meat Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Ogbono Soup with Waterleaf      Origin: Nigeria	Palm Soup Base #2      Origin: Liberia
Nigerian Spicy Scrambled Eggs      Origin: Nigeria	Oignons à la Monégasque (Sweet and Sour Onions, Monegasque Style)      Origin: Monaco	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Solomon Islands
Nihari Lamb      Origin: Pakistan	Ojja Merguez      Origin: Tunisia	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Tuvalu
Nila Bumbu Acar (Sour Spicy Carp)      Origin: Indonesia	Okok (Eru Leaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Kiribati
Njahi in Coconut Sauce (Kenyan Black Beans in Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Kenya	Okra Fungi      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Palusami (Corned Beef, Taro Greens and Coconut Milk)      Origin: Marshall Islands
Njanga Rice      Origin: Cameroon	Okro Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Pan Haggis      Origin: Scotland
Nkatenkwan (Ghanaian Peanut Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Okwuru Ugba (Okra and Ugba Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Pan-fried Carp      Origin: Montenegro
Nkrakrakwam (Ghanaian Light Soup)      Origin: Ghana	Olla de Carne      Origin: Costa Rica	Panamanian Sancocho      Origin: Panama
Nohutlu Pilav (Pilaf with Chickpeas)      Origin: Turkey	Olusatra (Alexanders with Raisin Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Paneer Korma      Origin: Britain
Noteye (Nutty)      Origin: England	Omajova-Pilz-Ragout mit Hirse (Omajova Mushroom Ragout with Millet)      Origin: Namibia	Paneer Shabnam      Origin: India
Nowmbyls of Muskyls (Mussels in Almond Milk Sauce)      Origin: England	Osh (Uzbek Palov)      Origin: Uzbekistan	Papeda Kuah Kuning (Papuan Sago with Turmeric Fish Soup)      Origin: Papua
Numb-fish (Electric Ray)      Origin: Roman	Oshi Palov (Beef and Vegetable Pilau)      Origin: Tajikistan	Pappardelle with Slow-cooked Beef and Mushrooms      Origin: Britain
Nyaba      Origin: Sudan	Osso Bucco alla Milanese      Origin: Italy	Paprika Sausage      Origin: British
Nyama ya Figo (Beef and Kidneys)      Origin: Tanzania	Ostrich Goulash      Origin: Namibia	Parched Peas      Origin: England
Nyama yeMbudzi (Traditional Zimbabwean Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Otong Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Pargo con Tomate (Snapper with Tomato)      Origin: Colombia
Nyebbeh with Oli Gravy      Origin: Gambia	Ottogi Karē (Ottogi Curry)      Origin: Korea	Parthade Curry      Origin: India
Nyekoe (Lesotho Sorghum and Beans)      Origin: Lesotho	Ouassous dans la nage (Ouassous in the swim)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Pašrūtum (Unwinding Mesopotamian Vegetable Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia
Nyeleng (Beef and Peanut Gumbo)      Origin: Senegal	Ox-heart Black Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Pasta with Olives and Caperberries      Origin: Britain
Nyete Greens with Peanut Butter      Origin: South Sudan	Oxtail Pot Pies      Origin: South Africa	Pasta with Wild Greens      Origin: Britain
Nyma ye Huku (Zimbabwean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Zimbabwe	Oysters in Cynee (Oysters in Spiced Bread Sauce)      Origin: England	Pašticada (Dalmatian Beef Stew with Prunes and Apples)      Origin: Croatia
Oaxacan Black Beans with Avocado Leaf      Origin: Mexico	Pabellón Criollo (Venezuelan Shredded Beef with Rice and Beans)      Origin: Venezuela	Pašticada (Croatian Beef Stew)      Origin: Croatia
Obe Ata (Nigerian Pepper Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Packet and Tripe      Origin: Ireland	Pasties Boiled in Beef Broth      Origin: Cornwall
Obe Ata Dindin (Nigerian Red Sauce)      Origin: Nigeria	Paella de Carne de Caza (Bushmeat Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patellam ex holisatro (Artichokes Cooked in Herbs)      Origin: Roman
Obe Efo Elegusi (Egusi Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Paella de Pintada (Guineafowl Paella)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Patina Cotidiana (Everyday Dish)      Origin: Roman
Obe Eja Dindin (Fried Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Paella Valencia      Origin: Spain	Patina Cotidiana II (Everyday Casserole II)      Origin: Roman
Obe Eja Tutu (Fresh Fish Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Paella Valencia de la Huerta (Traditional Chicken Paella)      Origin: Spain	Patina de Apua (A Dish of Anchovies)      Origin: Roman
Obe-Onigba (Garden Egg Sauce)      Origin: Nigeria	Palak Paneer (Paneer with Spinach)      Origin: India	Patina de Cydoneis (A Dish of Quinces)      Origin: Roman
Ock-lam (Barbecued Pork with Mushrooms and Beans)      Origin: Laos	Palakottai Curry (Jackfruit Seed Curry)      Origin: India	Patina de Persicis (A Dish of Peaches)      Origin: Roman
Octopus Curry      Origin: Seychelles	Palandy      Origin: Sri Lanka	Patina de piris (Pear Souflé)      Origin: Roman
Ofadà (Green Soup)      Origin: Nigeria	Palauan Fish Soup      Origin: Palau	Patina de Piscibus, Dentice, Aurata et Mugile (A Dish of Fish Made with Dentex, Gilt-head Bream, or Grey Mullet)      Origin: Roman
Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass Stew)      Origin: Nigeria	Palauan Tinola      Origin: Palau
Ofe-Owerri Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Palaver 'Sauce'      Origin: West Africa

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