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 2485 recipes in total:

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Pollo Guisado (Dominican Chicken Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Poule au pot à l'ancienne (Old-Fashioned Chicken in a Pot)      Origin: France	Poulet Yassa Malienne (Malian Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Mali
Pollo Mexicana (Chicken Mexicana)      Origin: Mexico	Poulet à l'Arachide (Chicken with Peanuts)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Powsowdie      Origin: Scotland
Polvo à São Tomé (Sao Tomean Octopus)      Origin: Sao Tome	Poulet à L'Indienne (Comoran Chicken Curry)      Origin: Comoros	Prassa (Leek and Rice Stew)      Origin: Armenia
Polvo a Modo ze de Lino (Octopus Stew)      Origin: Cape Verde	Poulet à la Basque (Basque-style Chicken)      Origin: France	Prawn Kofta Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian
Pondu      Origin: Congo	Poulet à la Moutarde façon Burkina Faso (Chicken with Mustard in the Style of Burkina Faso)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Prawn Patia      Origin: India
Porc aux Choux de Chine (Pork with Chinese Leaf)      Origin: Madagascar	Poulet à la N'Gatietro (Chicken in the Manner of N'Gatietro)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Prebranac (Serbian-style Baked Beans)      Origin: Serbia
Porc Palmiste (Pork with Heart of Palm)      Origin: Reunion	Poulet à la Noix de Coco et aux Arachides (Chicken with Coconut and Peanuts)      Origin: Gabon	Pressure Cooker Baked Beans      Origin: American
Porc Wedi ei Bobi'n Araf (Slow-roast Pork)      Origin: Welsh	Poulet à la Provençale (Provence-style Chicken)      Origin: France	Pressure Cooker Beef and Stout Stew      Origin: Ireland
Pork and Beans      Origin: American	Poulet à la Sauce Blanche (Chicken with White Sauce)      Origin: Benin	Pressure Cooker Beef in Pepper Sauce      Origin: American
Pork and Yam Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria	Poulet à la Sauce Tomate (Chicken with Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Gabon	Pressure Cooker Cajun Meatball Stew      Origin: American
Pork Black Curry      Origin: Sri Lanka	Poulet à la Moambe (Chicken Moambe)      Origin: DR-Congo	Pressure Cooker Curried Beef Stew      Origin: South Africa
Pork Fing      Origin: Bhutan	Poulet à la Moutarde (Gabon Mustard Chicken)      Origin: Gabon	Pressure Cooker Curried Squash      Origin: Fusion
Pork Fong      Origin: Bhutan	Poulet au Beurre de Cacahuète (Chicken with Peanut Butter)      Origin: Senegal	Pressure Cooker Dhal      Origin: Fusion
Pork Korma      Origin: India	Poulet au Gingembre (Ginger Chicken)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Pressure Cooker Jambalaya      Origin: American
Pork with Cabbage and Bananas      Origin: eSwatini	Poulet aux Arachides à la Togolaise (Chicken with Peanuts, Togo Fashion)      Origin: Togo	Pressure Cooker Ratatouille      Origin: Britain
Pork, Potato and Fennel Casserole      Origin: Ireland	Poulet aux Arachides de Niger (Chicken with Peanuts, Niger Style)      Origin: Niger	Pressure Cooker Vegetable and Coconut Curry      Origin: Fusion
Porkolt Csirke (Chicken Porkolt)      Origin: Hungary	Poulet aux Bananes Plantains (Chicken with Plantains)      Origin: Cameroon	Psarósoupa Kakavia (Cretan Seafood Stew)      Origin: Greece
Port of Spain Crabs and Dumplings      Origin: Trinidad	Poulet aux Bananes Plantains (Chicken with Plantains)      Origin: Madagascar	Psarossoupa Avgolemno (Fish Soup with Egg and Lemon)      Origin: Greece
Posna Sarma      Origin: North Macedonia	Poulet Créole (Creole Chicken)      Origin: Mauritius	Psoai (Pork in Piquant Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Pot au Feau      Origin: France	Poulet de Comores (Comorian Chicken)      Origin: Comoros	Pua’atoro aux Pommes de Terre Rissolées (Corned Beef with Fried Potatoes)      Origin: Tahiti
Pot au Feu      Origin: France	Poulet de Guinée (Guinean Chicken)      Origin: Guinea	Puerto Rican Picadillo (Puerto Rican Stewed Minced Beef)      Origin: Puerto Rico
Pot-roasted Pheasant with Cider and Calvados      Origin: Britain	Poulet Directeur Général      Origin: Cameroon	Puhādi (Mesopotamian Lamb Stew)      Origin: Mesopotamia
Potage Fene Boiles (A Broad Bean Pudding)      Origin: England	Poulet en Cocotte (French Chicken Casserole)      Origin: France	Pulled BBQ Pork Tacos with Wilted Cabbage Salad (Pulled BBQ Pork Tacos with Wilted Cabbage Salads)      Origin: Britain
Potaje de Garbanzo e Collejas (Chickpea Stew with Bladder Campion)      Origin: Spain	Poulet Fafa (Chicken with Taro Leaves)      Origin: Tahiti	Pultes (Meat Pottage)      Origin: Roman
Potato and Bean Casserole with Tomatoes      Origin: Ireland	Poulet Fafa (Chicken with Taro Leaves)      Origin: Wallis Futuna	Pultes Cum Iure Oenococti (Pottage with Wine Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Potato Casserole      Origin: Ireland	Poulet Kédjénou (Kédjénou Chicken)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Pumpkin Chili      Origin: American
Potée bretonne aux saucisses et poisson (Breton stew with sausages and fish)      Origin: France	Poulet Massalé (Chicken Massala)      Origin: Reunion	Pumpkin Curry      Origin: Britain
Potes Cig Eidion (Beef Pottage)      Origin: Welsh	Poulet Moambe (Chicken Moambe)      Origin: Congo	Pumpkin Goulash      Origin: American
Potes Cig Eidion II (Welsh Beef Stew II)      Origin: Welsh	Poulet Véronique (Chicken Véronique)      Origin: France	Pumpkin Sambar      Origin: India
Potes Cregyn Gleision Gyda Ceirch (Mussel Stew with Oat Dumplings)      Origin: Welsh	Poulet Yassa (Chicken yassa)      Origin: Senegal	Pumpkin Vine Tips Tarkari      Origin: Nepal
Potes Llysiau â Dwmplinau (Vegetable Stew with Dumplings)      Origin: Welsh	Poulet Yassa (Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Gambia	Punjene Paprika (Stuffed Peppers)      Origin: Serbia
Potjeikos      Origin: Southern Africa	Poulet Yassa (Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Purée d'Aubergines (Aubergine Purée)      Origin: Rwanda
Potted Ox Cheek      Origin: Scotland	Poulet Yassa Burkinabé (Burkinabe Chicken Yassa)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Poularde à la D'Albufera (Chicken Albufera)      Origin: Spain	Poulet Yassa de Guinée (Guinean Poulet Yassa)      Origin: Guinea

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