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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Cajun Chicken and Seafood Gumbo      Origin: Cajun	Cape Malay Black-eyed Beans Curry      Origin: South Africa	Carne Desmechada      Origin: Colombia
Cajun Chili Pork      Origin: Cajun	Cape Malay Egg Curry      Origin: South Africa	Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Colombia
Calabrese Mushroom Chili      Origin: American	Cape Malay Egg Curry      Origin: South Africa	Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Dominican Republic
Calalou (Beninese Callaloo)      Origin: Benin	Cape Malay Mutton Curry      Origin: South Africa	Carne en Salsa (Beef in Gravy)      Origin: Gibraltar
Calalou      Origin: French Guiana	Caponata      Origin: Italy	Carne Gisada con Plantanos (Beef and Plantains)      Origin: Cuba
Calalou aux crabes (Crab Callaloo)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Capons in Concy II (Chicken in Bread-thickened Stock with Eggs)      Origin: England	Carne Gizado (Stewed Meat and Vegetables)      Origin: Cape Verde
Calalu      Origin: Benin	Carboanda Criolla (Argentine Vegetable Beef Stew)      Origin: Argentina	Carne Guisada (Puerto Rican Stewed Beef)      Origin: Puerto Rico
Calco Stoba (Conch Stew)      Origin: Aruba	Carbonade Flamande      Origin: Belgium	Carne Guisada (Panamanian Beef Stew)      Origin: Panama
Caldeiraa de Cabrito (Goat Meat Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Cardo con Verdolaga (Pork with Purslane)      Origin: Mexico	Carne Mechada      Origin: Venezuela
Caldeirada de Lulas a Madeirense (Madeira Squid Stew)      Origin: Portugal	Cari Boeuf aux Carottes (Beef and Carrot Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela
Caldo Branco (White Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari Boeuf Gingembre Oignons (Beef Curry with Ginger and Onions)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela
Caldo de Bicuda (Barracuda Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari de Cerf (Venison Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne na Cerveja (Beef in Beer)      Origin: Brazil
Caldo de Chabéu (Palm Nut Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari de Morue (Cod Curry)      Origin: Saint Pierre	Carne Porco Vinho D'alhos (Pork in Garlic and Wine)      Origin: Portugal
Caldo de Citi (Red Palm oil Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari de Porc (Pork Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carnes Vaccinae (Byzantine Beef Stew)      Origin: Roman
Caldo de Peixe (Cape Verdean Fish Soup)      Origin: Cape Verde	Cari de Thon (Tuna Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carotae et pastinacae (Fried Carrots with Peppered Wine Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Caldo de Peixe de Guiné-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau Style Fish Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari Dholl (Yellow Split Pea Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Carri Tripes Gros Pois (Butter Bean and Tripe Curry)      Origin: Mauritius
Caldou au Bissap (Flatfish with Hibiscus Flowers)      Origin: Senegal	Cari Langoustes (Lobster Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Cassava Leaf Soup      Origin: Liberia
Callaloo Soup      Origin: Saint Lucia	Cari Massale de boeuf (Beef Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Cassava Life      Origin: Sierra Leone
Callaloo Soup      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Cari Massale de Cabri (Goat Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Casserol Ceredigion (Cardiganshire Casserole)      Origin: Welsh
Callaloo Soup      Origin: US Virgin Islands	Cari Mouton (Mutton Curry)      Origin: Saint Pierre	Cassoulet à Moda Brasileira (Brazilian-style Cassoulet)      Origin: Brazil
Calulu Carne Seca (Dried Meat Calulu)      Origin: Angola	Cari Ourite (Octopus Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Cassoulet Mauricien (Mauritian Cassoulet)      Origin: Mauritius
Calulu de Cabara (Goat Meat Calulu)      Origin: Angola	Cari Poisson (Fish Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Cattail Hearts with Wild Oyster Mushrooms      Origin: America
Calulu de Peixe (Fish Calulu)      Origin: Angola	Cari Poisson (Fish Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Caudel of almannd mylke (Caudle of Almond Milk)      Origin: England
Camarâes à Guineense (Guinean Prawns)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Cari Pom'Terre Boucané (Smoked Pork and Potato Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Cauliflower with Dorsa Sauce      Origin: Algeria
Camarão na Abóbora (Prawns in Pumpkin Shells)      Origin: Mozambique	Cari Poulet Rougaile Tomate (Chicken Curry with Tomato)      Origin: Reunion	Cawdel of Samoun (Caudle of Salmon)      Origin: England
Camarones Guisados (Stewed Prawns)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Caribbean Cook-up      Origin: Jamaica	Cawl (Soup)      Origin: Welsh
Camel Chubbagin      Origin: Mauritania	Caribbean Rice and Beans      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Cawl Cig Oen (Lamb Broth)      Origin: Welsh
Cameroonian Jollof Rice      Origin: Cameroon	Caribbean Rice and Beans      Origin: US Virgin Islands	Cawl Cynhaeaf (Harvest Broth)      Origin: Welsh
Canard au cidre (Duck with Cider)      Origin: France	Caril de Amendoim de Frango (Peanut and Chicken Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Cawl Tregaron (Tregaron Broth)      Origin: Welsh
Canard au curry (Curried Duck)      Origin: DR-Congo	Caril de Frango (Chicken Curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Cawl Wstrys Bro Gŵyr (Gower Peninsula Oyster Broth)      Origin: Welsh
Canarian Ropa Vieja      Origin: Spain	Caril de Frango com Coco (Chicken and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Cawl y Carolwyr (Carollers' Broth)      Origin: Welsh
Canja      Origin: Cape Verde	Caril de peixe (Fish curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Cayman Fish Rundown      Origin: Cayman Islands
Canja de Gahlinha (Cape Verdean Chicken Stew)      Origin: Cape Verde	Carne de Porco à Alentejana (Pork in the style of Alentejo)      Origin: Portugal
Cannellini alla Catania      Origin: Italy	Carne de Porco em Vinho D'alhos (Pork in Vinegar)      Origin: Portugal

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