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 2116 recipes in total:

Page 20 of 22

Stoved Howtowdie wi' Drappit Eggs      Origin: Scotland	Tagine bal Ghalmi wa Gharraa wa Na'Na' (Lamb Tagine with Courgette and Mint)      Origin: Morocco	Thai Red Curry Duck      Origin: Thailand
Stovies      Origin: Scotland	Tagine bel Ghamli wal Barkouk wa Geijlane (Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Sesame Seeds)      Origin: Morocco	The Ultimate Chilli Con Carne      Origin: Fusion
Studenetz (Jellied Ham Hocks)      Origin: Ukraine	Tagine de Daurade (Tagine of Sea Bream)      Origin: Morocco	Thiebou dieune (Street-style Senegalese Fish and Rice)      Origin: Senegal
Stufato del Pescatore (Italian Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Italy	Tagine Lahm bil Beleh (Lamb Tagine with Dates)      Origin: Morocco	Thieboudienne (Fish in the Manner of Dakar)      Origin: Senegal
Stuffat Tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)      Origin: Malta	Tagine of Lamb with Pumpkin      Origin: North Africa	Thiou a la Viande (Senegalese Beef Stew)      Origin: Senegal
Stuffat Tal-Qarnit (Octopus Stew)      Origin: Malta	Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup      Origin: Taiwan	Thiou Curry (White Rice with Curry Sauce)      Origin: Senegal
Stuffed Pheasant Breasts with Prune Sauce      Origin: Scotland	Tajin Sibnekh (Chicken and Egg Tagine)      Origin: Tunisia	Thon Curry Moutarde à la Mauricienne (Mauritian-style Tuna Mustard Curry)      Origin: Mauritius
Suaasat      Origin: Greenland	Tajine de chameau aux abricots secs (Camel tagine with dried apricots)      Origin: Mali	Thukaree Riha (Maldives Vegetable Curry)      Origin: Maldives
Succotash      Origin: America	Tajine Kefta aux Oeufs (Vegetarian Koftas with Eggs)      Origin: Algeria	Tibs Wet      Origin: Ethiopia
Sudanese Rice      Origin: Sudan	Tajine Msir Zeetoon (Chicken with Lemon and Olives)      Origin: Middle East	Tieb au Poulet (Chicken and Rice)      Origin: Mali
Sugar Bean Curry      Origin: South Africa	Tamal de Olla      Origin: Panama	Tiebe (Rice and Meat with Vegetables)      Origin: Togo
Sukuma Wiki      Origin: Kenya	Tamarillo and Beef Curry      Origin: Fusion	Tigadeguena (Chicken in Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Mali
Sukuma Wiki      Origin: South Sudan	Tanzanian Curried Okra      Origin: Tanzania	Tiguadege Na      Origin: Mali
Summer Lamb Casserole      Origin: Britain	Tanzanian Meat Curry      Origin: Tanzania	Tishreeb Hummus (Chickpea Casserole)      Origin: Iraq
Summer Vegetable Stew      Origin: Britain	Tanzanian Meat Stew      Origin: Tanzania	Tolma (Cabbage Stuffed with Lamb)      Origin: Georgia
Superkanja      Origin: Gambia	Taro aux Fruits de Mer (Taro with Seafood)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Tom Brown      Origin: Nigeria
Suqaar (Somali Beef Stew)      Origin: Somalia	Taro Guisado (Taro Stew)      Origin: Easter Island	Tom Yam Goong 2      Origin: Thailand
Suriname Masala Chicken      Origin: Suriname	Taro Leaf Stew      Origin: Pitcairn Islands	Tomatillo and Beef Curry      Origin: Fusion
Şurpa (Shurpa)      Origin: Turkmenistan	Tarten Oen a Bricyll gyda Crwst Persli (Lamb and Apricot Pie with Parsley Crust)      Origin: Welsh	Tomato Keema (Tomato and Beef Curry)      Origin: Pakistan
Suss-Saures Rotkraut (Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage)      Origin: Germany	Tas-Kebab (Lamb Cooked in Wine)      Origin: Bulgaria	Tomato Rice      Origin: India
Suya Beef Heart Curry with Beans and Wild Greens      Origin: Fusion	Tasqebap (Fried Lamb with Tomatoes)      Origin: Albania	Topside Pot Roast with Port and Root Vegetables      Origin: Britain
Svelkonik      Origin: Belarus	Tass Kebab (Fried Lamb in Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Armenia	Toscanita de Ciuperci (Sautéd Mushrooms)      Origin: Romania
Svinsko S Bel Bob (Pork with Beans)      Origin: Bulgaria	Tatws a Chig Mewn Popty Araf (Potatoes and Meat in the Slow Cooker)      Origin: Welsh	Toto-kena Misy Anana sy Voanjo (Greens with Peanuts and Minced Beef)      Origin: Madagascar
Swahili Aubergine Curry      Origin: East Africa	Tatws Pum Munud (Five-minute Potatoes)      Origin: Welsh	Touo du Niger (Nigerienne Touo)      Origin: Niger
Sweet Coconut Pumpkin with Pandan Leaves      Origin: Kiribati	Tavče Gravče      Origin: North Macedonia	Traditional Pot Roast      Origin: Britain
Sweet Potato Stew      Origin: African Fusion	Tavuklu Bamya (Chicken with Okra)      Origin: Turkey	Traditional Sloppy Joes      Origin: American
Szeged Gulyasz (Pork Goulash with Sauerkraut)      Origin: Czech	Texas Chili      Origin: American	Trey Kho Manor (Caramelized Fish with Pineapple)      Origin: Cambodia
Tô      Origin: Burkina Faso	Texas Red Chili      Origin: America	Trini Curried Pork      Origin: Trinidad
T'fina Aricha (Beef and Wheat Stew)      Origin: Tunisia	Texas-style Pork and Beef Chili      Origin: American	Trini Plantain Curry      Origin: Trinidad
Tabah Moostafah (Tagine of Marrakech Lamb)      Origin: Morocco	Tfina Camounia (Potatoes and Bean Stew)      Origin: Tunisia	Trinidad Curried Pineapple Rice      Origin: Trinidad
Tagalia      Origin: South Sudan	Thai Green Curried Cod      Origin: Fusion	Trinidadian Chicken Curry      Origin: Trinidad
Tagin Lisan 'asfur (Orzo Casserole)      Origin: Egypt	Thai Green Curry of Prawn and Fish      Origin: Thailand	Trinidadian Curried Goat      Origin: Trinidad
Tagine Almaaz bil Beleh (Goat Tagine with Dates)      Origin: Morocco	Thai Mango Fish Curry      Origin: Thailand
Tagine bal Ghalmi wa Aflour (Lamb Tagine with Broad Beans)      Origin: Morocco	Thai Pork Curry in the Burmese Style      Origin: Myanmar

Page 20 of 22