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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Cari de Morue (Cod Curry)      Origin: Saint Pierre	Carne Gisada con Plantanos (Beef and Plantains)      Origin: Cuba	Cennin mewn Saws Oren (Leeks in Orange Sauce)      Origin: Welsh
Cari de Porc (Pork Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Gizado (Stewed Meat and Vegetables)      Origin: Cape Verde	Ceviche de Pollo (Chicken Ceviche)      Origin: Peru
Cari de Thon (Tuna Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Guisada (Puerto Rican Stewed Beef)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Chabéu de Carne (Meat with Palm Oil)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Cari Dholl (Yellow Split Pea Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Carne Guisada (Panamanian Beef Stew)      Origin: Panama	Chabéu de Tainha (Palm Soup of Mullet)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Cari Langoustes (Lobster Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Mechada      Origin: Venezuela	Chakapuli (Georgian Lamb and Tarragon Stew)      Origin: Georgia
Cari Massale de boeuf (Beef Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela	Chakhchoukha      Origin: Algeria
Cari Massale de Cabri (Goat Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded Beef)      Origin: Venezuela	Chardwardon      Origin: England
Cari Mouton (Mutton Curry)      Origin: Saint Pierre	Carne na Cerveja (Beef in Beer)      Origin: Brazil	Charquicán (Traditional Chilean Stew)      Origin: Chile
Cari Ourite (Octopus Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Carne Porco Vinho D'alhos (Pork in Garlic and Wine)      Origin: Portugal	Chaudage (Pork and Beef Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe
Cari Poisson (Fish Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carnes Vaccinae (Byzantine Beef Stew)      Origin: Roman	Cheese Dumplings      Origin: Britain
Cari Poisson (Fish Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Carotae et pastinacae (Fried Carrots with Peppered Wine Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Chefy Umngqusho (Chefy Samp and Beans)      Origin: South Africa
Cari Pom'Terre Boucané (Smoked Pork and Potato Curry)      Origin: Reunion	Carri Tripes Gros Pois (Butter Bean and Tripe Curry)      Origin: Mauritius	Chelo Nachodo (Chicken and Chickpea Stew with Rice)      Origin: Afghanistan
Cari Poulet Rougaile Tomate (Chicken Curry with Tomato)      Origin: Reunion	Cassava Leaf Soup      Origin: Liberia	Cherupayar Curry (Whole Green Lentil Curry)      Origin: India
Caribbean Cook-up      Origin: Jamaica	Cassava Life      Origin: Sierra Leone	Chicken Afritada      Origin: Philippines
Caribbean Rice and Beans      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Casserol Ceredigion (Cardiganshire Casserole)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken and Broccoli in a Curried Yoghurt Sauce      Origin: India
Caribbean Rice and Beans      Origin: US Virgin Islands	Cassoulet à Moda Brasileira (Brazilian-style Cassoulet)      Origin: Brazil	Chicken and Dumplings      Origin: Ireland
Caril de Amendoim de Frango (Peanut and Chicken Stew)      Origin: Mozambique	Cassoulet Mauricien (Mauritian Cassoulet)      Origin: Mauritius	Chicken and Leek Hotpot      Origin: Ireland
Caril de Frango (Chicken Curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Cattail Hearts with Wild Oyster Mushrooms      Origin: America	Chicken and Peanut Thai Curry      Origin: Thailand
Caril de Frango com Coco (Chicken and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Caudel of almannd mylke (Caudle of Almond Milk)      Origin: England	Chicken and Vegetable Curry      Origin: Senegal
Caril de peixe (Fish curry)      Origin: Sao Tome	Cauliflower with Dorsa Sauce      Origin: Algeria	Chicken Benachin      Origin: Cameroon
Carlin Pea and Chanterelle Ragout      Origin: Britain	Cauliflower, Mushroom and Carlin Peas Curry      Origin: Britain	Chicken Boileen      Origin: Saint Vincent
Carlin Pea and Glazed Halloumi Saag      Origin: Britain	Cawdel of Samoun (Caudle of Salmon)      Origin: England	Chicken Bonnie Prince Charlie      Origin: Scotland
Carlin Pea Curry with Perpetual Spinach and Peanut Butter      Origin: Britain	Cawl (Soup)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry      Origin: Anglo-Indian
Carlin Pea Masala      Origin: Britain	Cawl Cig Oen (Lamb Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Greens      Origin: India
Carlin Pea Ragu      Origin: Britain	Cawl Cynhaeaf (Harvest Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Malaysia
Carlin pea, kale and chorizo one pot      Origin: Britain	Cawl Tregaron (Tregaron Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes (FChicken Curry with Potatoes)      Origin: Cocos Islands
Carlin Pea, Pearl Barley and Tomato Stew      Origin: Britain	Cawl Wstrys Bro Gŵyr (Gower Peninsula Oyster Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Potatoes      Origin: Christmas Island
Carlin Pease Pudding      Origin: Britain	Cawl y Carolwyr (Carollers' Broth)      Origin: Welsh	Chicken Curry with Yams      Origin: Fusion
Carne de Porco à Alentejana (Pork in the style of Alentejo)      Origin: Portugal	Cayman Fish Rundown      Origin: Cayman Islands	Chicken Dupiaza      Origin: Anglo-Indian
Carne de Porco em Vinho D'alhos (Pork in Vinegar)      Origin: Portugal	Cazuela Chilena (Chilean Cazuela)      Origin: Chile	Chicken Gravy      Origin: Liberia
Carne Desmechada      Origin: Colombia	Cazuela de Mariscos Chilena (Chilean Seafood Cazuela)      Origin: Chile	Chicken Guisado      Origin: India
Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Colombia	Cazuela Fiestera (Festival Casserole)      Origin: Ecuador	Chicken Imoyo II      Origin: Nigeria
Carne en Polvo (Powdered Beef)      Origin: Dominican Republic	Ceebu Jën (Rice and Fish)      Origin: Senegal
Carne en Salsa (Beef in Gravy)      Origin: Gibraltar	Celtic Pork and Apple Stew      Origin: Ancient

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