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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Ragoût Njansang (Njansang Stew)      Origin: Central African Republic	Ris engoulé (Ris Engoule)      Origin: France	Rukau      Origin: Tuvalu
Ragoût of Turkey      Origin: Britain	Ris Gras Burkinabé      Origin: Burkina Faso	Rukau      Origin: Tokelau
Ragout Breton à la saucisse (Breton Stew with sausage)      Origin: France	Risoto Cranc Celtaidd a Chorgimychiaid Bae Ceredigion (Risotto of Celtic Crab and Cardigan Bay Prawns)      Origin: Welsh	Rwanda Goat Pelau      Origin: Rwanda
Ragout d'Igname (Yam Porridge)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Risoto o Ddail Poethion a Pherlysiau Gwyllt (Risotto of Nettles and Wild Herbs)      Origin: Welsh	Rwandan Beef Stew      Origin: Rwanda
Ragoût de cabri créole (Creole Goat Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Risotto al Funghi Porcini e Nepitella (Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Lesser Calamint)      Origin: Italy	Rwandan Chicken      Origin: Rwanda
Ragoût de chatrou créole (Creole Chatrou Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Risotto al Tonno (Risotto with Tuna)      Origin: Italy	Rwandan Porridge      Origin: Rwanda
Ragoût de lambi (Conch stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Risotto alla Arancia (Risotto with Orange)      Origin: Italy	Rys Lumbard Stondyne (Sweet Rice and Egg Pudding)      Origin: England
Ragoût de poisson (Creole-style fish Stew)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Risotto alla Milanese      Origin: Italy	Saak-er Ghanto      Origin: Bangladesh
Ragu di Carne      Origin: San Marino	Risotto alla Paesana (Risotto with Beans and Bacon)      Origin: Italy	Saare jerk-sealiha (Island Jerk Pork)      Origin: Dominica
Rapa Nui Cazuela      Origin: Easter Island	Risotto alle Erbe e Niputedda (Catmint and Herb Risotto)      Origin: Italy	Saba Callaloo      Origin: Saba
Rapas (Turnips)      Origin: Roman	Risotto allo Zafferano (Saffron Risotto)      Origin: Switzerland	Saba Masala Chicken      Origin: Saba
Rapes in Potage (Turnips in Pottage)      Origin: England	Risotto con Prosciutto e Piselli (Risotto with Ham and Peas)      Origin: Italy	Saba Rice and Black Beans      Origin: Saba
Raspberry Coulis      Origin: Britain	Risotto Rucola (Wild Rocket Risotto)      Origin: Italy	Sabzi Gutab (Green Gutab)      Origin: Azerbaijan
Ratatouille      Origin: France	Riz au Gras ('Fat Rice')      Origin: Benin	Saint Kitts Stewed Saltfish      Origin: Saint Kitts
Rayo Saag Ra Sungur Ko Masu (Pork and Spinach Curry)      Origin: Nepal	Riz au Lait de Coco de Comores (Comorian Rice with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Comoros	Saint Lucia Lambi Soup with Dumplings      Origin: Saint Lucia
Real Irish Stew      Origin: Ireland	Riz Créole (Creole Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Saint Lucian Bouillon      Origin: Saint Lucia
Rechta      Origin: Algeria	Riz des Iles (Island Rice)      Origin: Comoros	Saint Vincent Chicken Pelau      Origin: Saint Vincent
Red Cabbage with Glazed Onions      Origin: Belgium	Riz Dion (Rice and Mushrooms)      Origin: Haiti	Saint Vincent Pig Feet Souse      Origin: Saint Vincent
Red Curry Cambogee with Meat      Origin: Cambodia	Riz et Pois Collés (Haitian Rice with Peas)      Origin: Haiti	Saint-Martin Whelk Soup      Origin: Saint-Martin
Red Oil Greens      Origin: Liberia	Riz Gras du Burkinabé (Burkina Faso Fat Rice)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Saka saka (Congolese Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Congo
Red-red      Origin: Ghana	Riz haricots rouges antillais (Antillean Red Beans and Rice)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Saka Saka du Mali (Malian Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Mali
Renga Renga (Burundi Sweet Potato Leaf Stew)      Origin: Burundi	Riz Wolof (Wolof Rice)      Origin: Guinea	Saka-saka (Mutton and Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Guinea
Resalsike (Royal Fruit Stew)      Origin: England	Romazava      Origin: Madagascar	Salmi Poulet Mauriticien (Chicken Mauritius)      Origin: Mauritius
Reshmi Gosht (Lamb Breast in Aromatic Sauce)      Origin: India	Romee (Cornmeal Mush)      Origin: Georgia	Salmis de Faisan (Salmis of Pheasant)      Origin: France
Restaurant-style Chakalaka      Origin: South Africa	Roo Broth (Roe Deer in Broth)      Origin: England	Salmis de Palombe (Salmis of Pigeons)      Origin: France
Restaurant-style Monkfish Curry      Origin: Britain	Ropa Vieja      Origin: Cuba	Salmon Kalia in Panch Phoron Sauce      Origin: India
Rheinischer Sauerbraten (Rhenish Stewed Pickled Beef)      Origin: Germany	Rosehip Purée      Origin: Fusion	Salsa de Cacahuete con Pollo (Peanut Sauce with Chicken)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Rhubarb and Ginger Compote      Origin: Britain	Rosemary-scented Lamb      Origin: Britain	Salsa di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Italy
Rice and Peas      Origin: Jamaica	Rostbraten Mit Pilzfulle (Roast Beef with Mushroom Stuffing)      Origin: Germany	Salt Cod and Potatoes      Origin: Bermuda
Rice and Peas      Origin: Saint Kitts	Rosto      Origin: Gibraltar	Saltah      Origin: Yemen
Rice Flour FuFu      Origin: Liberia	Rougail Saucisse (Sausage Rougail)      Origin: Mauritius	Saltfish Buljolde      Origin: Antigua
Rice Phala (Sweetened Rice Phala)      Origin: Malawi	Rougaille Boudin (Black Pudding in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Mauritius	Saltfish Buljolde      Origin: British Virgin Islands
Rice with Pigeon Peas      Origin: Puerto Rico	Roz bi Laban (Egyptian Rice Pudding)      Origin: Egypt
Rifissa (Chicken and Lentil Stew)      Origin: Morocco	Rukau      Origin: Cook Islands

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