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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Roz bi Laban (Egyptian Rice Pudding)      Origin: Egypt	Saltah      Origin: Yemen	Sauce Légume      Origin: Benin
Rukau      Origin: Cook Islands	Saltfish Buljolde      Origin: Antigua	Sauce Moundourou (Moundourou Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Chad
Rukau      Origin: Tuvalu	Saltfish Buljolde      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Sauce Oseille (Sorrel Sauce)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Rukau      Origin: Tokelau	Samarkandskij Jagnenok (Samarkand Lamb)      Origin: Uzbekistan	Sauce sarzyne (Saracen Sauce)      Origin: England
Rwanda Goat Pelau      Origin: Rwanda	Sambhar (Lentil Curry)      Origin: India	Sauerbraten      Origin: Germany
Rwandan Beef Stew      Origin: Rwanda	Samia' Metchou Peng Pa (Khmer Fish Stew with Lemongrass)      Origin: Cambodia	Sauerbraten II (Soured Beef)      Origin: Germany
Rwandan Chicken      Origin: Rwanda	Samlor Machu Trey (Sweet and Sour Soup with Fish)      Origin: Cambodia	Sausage Ragu      Origin: Britain
Rwandan Porridge      Origin: Rwanda	Samp      Origin: eSwatini	Sauté de cerf a la calédonienne (New Caledonian-Style Venison Sauté)      Origin: New Caledonia
Rys Lumbard Stondyne (Sweet Rice and Egg Pudding)      Origin: England	Sancoche      Origin: Trinidad	Sautéed Collard Greens      Origin: American
Saak-er Ghanto      Origin: Bangladesh	Sancochi di Galinja (Chicken Stew)      Origin: Aruba	Savoury Chops      Origin: Australia
Saare jerk-sealiha (Island Jerk Pork)      Origin: Dominica	Sancocho de siete carnes (Seven meat stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Saws Rhython (Cockle Sauce)      Origin: Welsh
Saba Callaloo      Origin: Saba	Sancocho Dominicano (Dominican Stew)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Scallops with Onion Cream Sauce      Origin: Scotland
Saba Masala Chicken      Origin: Saba	Sao Tomean Calulu      Origin: Sao Tome	Schwalbennester (Bavarian Veal)      Origin: Germany
Saba Rice and Black Beans      Origin: Saba	Sarapatel      Origin: India	Schweinefleisch mit Wurzelgemüse und Äpfeln (Pork with Root Vegetables and Apples)      Origin: Germany
Sabzi Gutab (Green Gutab)      Origin: Azerbaijan	Sarazener (Saracen)      Origin: Germany	Schweinshaxe (Pork Hocks)      Origin: Germany
Saffron Milk Cap Fricassee      Origin: Britain	Sarma (Stuffed Cabbage Leaves)      Origin: Serbia	Schyconys with the Bruesse (Stewed Chicken)      Origin: England
Saint Kitts Stewed Saltfish      Origin: Saint Kitts	Sarmale (Stuffed Cabbage Leaves)      Origin: Romania	Scotch Broth      Origin: Scotland
Saint Lucia Lambi Soup with Dumplings      Origin: Saint Lucia	Sarson Saag Gosht (Lamb and Rapeseed Greens Curry with Yoghurt)      Origin: India	Scotch Broth with Pepper Dulse      Origin: Scotland
Saint Lucian Bouillon      Origin: Saint Lucia	Satan's Fantasy Chili      Origin: American	Scotch Collops      Origin: Scotland
Saint Vincent Chicken Pelau      Origin: Saint Vincent	Sathe Curry (Beef and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Sri Lanka	Scotch Hot Pot      Origin: Scotland
Saint Vincent Pig Feet Souse      Origin: Saint Vincent	Satsabeli Bazha (Poultry in Walnut Sauce)      Origin: Georgia	Scotch Kale      Origin: Scotland
Saint-Martin Whelk Soup      Origin: Saint-Martin	Sauce Arachide de Burkina Faso (Burkinabe Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Scotch Stew      Origin: Scotland
Saka saka (Congolese Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Congo	Sauce aux Arachides (Guinean Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Scots Kidney Collops      Origin: Scotland
Saka Saka du Mali (Malian Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Mali	Sauce aux Arachides du Tchad (Chadian Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Chad	Scots Minced Collops      Origin: Scotland
Saka-saka (Mutton and Cassava Leaf Stew)      Origin: Guinea	Sauce aux Champignons et Citron (Mushroom and Lemon Sauce)      Origin: Congo	Scottish Jugged Hare      Origin: Scotland
Salade Kopto (Moringa Leaf Salad)      Origin: Niger	Sauce d'Arachide (Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Benin	Scottish Potted Rabbit      Origin: Scotland
Salmi Poulet Mauriticien (Chicken Mauritius)      Origin: Mauritius	Sauce Feuilles de Manioc Camerounaise (Cameroonian Cassava Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Cameroon	Scottish Rabbit Curry      Origin: Scotland
Salmis de Faisan (Salmis of Pheasant)      Origin: France	Sauce Gbanbouda (Tô with Okra Sauce and Peanuts)      Origin: Guinea	Sea Spaghetti alla Bolognese      Origin: Fusion
Salmis de Palombe (Salmis of Pigeons)      Origin: France	Sauce Gombo (Gombo Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	Seafood Amok      Origin: Cambodia
Salmon Kalia in Panch Phoron Sauce      Origin: India	Sauce Gombo      Origin: Niger	Seafood Chili      Origin: American
Salsa de Cacahuete con Pollo (Peanut Sauce with Chicken)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Sauce Gombo et Boeuf (Okra Sauce with Beef)      Origin: Burkina Faso	Seaweed Ribollita      Origin: Fusion
Salsa de Espinacosas (Spinach Salsa)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Sauce Gombo Togolaise (Togolese Okra Sauce)      Origin: Togo	Seco de Chivo (Dry-fried Goat Meat)      Origin: Ecuador
Salsa di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce)      Origin: Italy	Sauce Gombos Burkinabé (Burkinabe Okra Sauce)      Origin: Burkina Faso
Salt Cod and Potatoes      Origin: Bermuda	Sauce Koumrangan (Hibiscus Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Chad

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