After a looong, hot summer, we’re always looking forward to the return of cooler weather and comfort food meals like soups and casseroles. Some of our favorite options are good, hearty stews. Though they do often take quite a bit of time to make (unless they’re made in your slow cooker), most of it is hands-off. Trust us, the complex flavors you can build over time are so worth it. Did we mention they’re usually one-pot affairs? A kitchen full of delicious aromas, and no accompanying pile of dishes? That’s a win in our book. Check out our list of 26 stew recipes for ideas—we feel cozier just thinking about them.
Stews have been around for thousands of years, in cultures all over the world. Our Filipino sinigang, our West African-inspired chicken & peanut stew, our Cajun chicken and sausage gumbo, our Jamaican oxtail stew, our Moroccan lamb tagine, our Southern Brunswick stew, our Irish beef stew, or our French ratatouille are all great examples of the wide variety out there. At their most basic, a stew is simply a very thick soup, usually full of large chunks of meat and veggies. To achieve this thickness, they start off without a lot of liquid, then are simmered for a lengthy period of time. Sometimes the thickness is helped along with flour in the form of a roux, as well.
While we’d love to spend hours cooking down a stew to the perfect thickness, we don’t always have the time. Modern appliances to the rescue! Check out our slow-cooker red wine beef stew, our Instant Pot beef stew, our slow-cooker short rib stew, or our slow-cooker beef stew with orzo to see what we mean. Your Instant Pot or slow cooker can achieve the same effect as a long simmer, in way less time.
Best-Ever Beef Stew
Some people have told us that this recipe is missing flour. We respectfully disagree. There's no rule that beef stew needs a thickening agent. In fact, many recipes skip it, not just ours. 😉 As the soup simmers, the potatoes give off plenty of starch, creating some of the most velvety broth we've ever had.
Get the Best-Ever Beef Stew recipe.
Chicken Stew
If you’re looking for a hearty, healthy dinner, you’ve come to the right place! Not only is this one-pot meal easy to prepare, it also tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove for hours... even though it only takes 45 minutes from start to finish. Cooking the chicken in the stew means that it releases all its juices into the broth as it cooks, giving the stew a ton of extra flavor.
Get the Chicken Stew recipe.
Green Chili Pork Stew
If you like our chile verde—a classic Mexican stew made with a variety of green peppers and tomatillos—you're going to love this rendition. This version features pork shoulder, which you'll cut into cubes before braising until meltingly tender. It's easy enough for a weeknight meal (put your feet up on the couch while the pork braises) but impressive enough to serve company.
Get the Green Chili Pork Stew recipe.
Lamb Stew
Hearty, flavorful lamb stew can be yours in under 2 hours, and all in one pot! With a rich, velvety broth and tender pieces of lamb, you'd be hard-pressed to find a cozier cold weather meal.
Get the Lamb Stew recipe.
Sinigang
Sinigang means "stewed dish" in Tagalog, a broad term that encompasses many sour-yet-savory variations. Our rendition of this one-pot Filipino stew features pork, tamarind, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, and shishito peppers. If you're sensitive to heat, skip the peppers (or serve them on the side).
Get the Sinigang recipe.
Moroccan Lamb Tagine
Tagine refers to both the pot and the stew-like dish that is cooked inside, but don't write off making this dish if you don't own a tagine pot. We made ours in a Dutch oven and it came out perfectly!
Get the Moroccan Lamb Tagine recipe.
Jamaican Oxtail Stew
If you've never had Jamaican oxtail stew, you're in for a major treat. It's rich, SUPER flavorful, with fall-off-the-bone-tender meat and creamy butter beans. It's a true special occasion dish, and takes some finesse, so check out our top tips before you jump in (no 1: allspice berries are a MUST here, so seek 'em out!).
Get the Jamaican Oxtail Stew recipe.
Vegan French Onion Stew
With complex flavor and toasts broiled with melty dairy-free cheese, this is just as good as OG French onion soup. Finishing the cheese toasts right in the soup pot makes for an impressive presentation, but if you're making this ahead of time, finish them on a sheet pan instead.
Get the Vegan French Onion Stew recipe.
West African-Inspired Chicken & Peanut Stew
This stew is made by thickening a flavorful, tomato-y soup base with ground peanuts and root vegetables. The traditional choice for chicken and peanut stew is bone-in, skinless dark meat, but we made it a step easier with boneless skinless chicken thighs instead. The result is a creamy, nutty, spicy, earthy meal that will warm you from the inside out.
Cowboy Stew
Featuring a spicy tomato broth studded with bacon, kielbasa sausage, ground beef, potatoes, pinto beans, and corn, a bowl of this stew is sure to keep you full from dusk 'til dawn, whether that's roping cattle on the ranch or going from yoga to the office to cooking dinner after work. Serve this with buttered cornbread instead of tortilla chips for an even more filling meal.
Get the Cowboy Stew recipe.
Irish Beef Stew
Traditionally, an Irish stew (aka Guinness Stew) is made with lamb, which you can totally do. Our version includes beef chuck, which is less traditional but certainly equal in deliciousness.
Get the Irish Beef Stew recipe.
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
The true spirit of Cajun gumbo is using what you have on hand. If you can’t find andouille, grab some kielbasa. Prefer chicken drumsticks or chicken breast? Go for it! Like with any stew, gumbo only gets better as it sits, so this makes great leftovers.
Get the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipe.
Chicken Fricassee
This chicken thigh dish is an easy weeknight dinner that will really be the highlight of your week. The cream and white wine sauce might just rival the one in our creamy Tuscan chicken (we can't believe it either!). Bonus: The sauce is made in the same pan as the chicken and veggies, so this is indulgent and super easy.
Get the Chicken Fricassee recipe.
Brunswick Stew
This hearty chicken stew in a tomato-based broth with vegetables like white corn, butter beans (aka baby lima beans), and potatoes is a Southern classic. Its history dates back to the late 19th-century American South, though its precise origin is a matter of debate. Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia all claim it, and it’s easy to see why they would! It’s truly a stew to be proud of.
Get the Brunswick Stew recipe.
Instant Pot Beef Stew
There's no need to wait for a large piece of meat to tenderize for hours when your Instant Pot can do it in less than an hour. This warm, comforting bowl of hearty beef stew can be made in a fraction of the time. It's also perfect on a cold winter's night.
Get the Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe.
Cioppino
Originating in San Francisco, this tomato-based seafood stew is traditionally filled with whatever seafood is fresh at the market. Since plenty of seafood is available year-round, we went with four of our favorites: shrimp, clams, mussels, and halibut. Feel free to leave any of them out, or swap out halibut for a less expensive firm white fish. (Cod or tilapia are great replacements!)
Get the Cioppino recipe.
Ratatouille
This colorful classic French countryside stew is chock-full of healthy vegetables like eggplant, red peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini! Serve with crusty bread for best results.
Get the Ratatouille recipe.
Inspired by Korean sundubu-jjigae, this tofu stew is a fast, easy meal that's still BIG on flavor. Both spicy and savory—thanks to a hefty dollop of gochujang (a fermented chili paste) and a mixture of fresh ginger, garlic, and scallions—it's an amazingly satisfying vegetarian meal.
Get the Kimchi Tofu Stew recipe.
Chickpea Stew
Inspired by a pair of delicious tomato-and-spinach-based chickpea stews from Sevilla, Spain, this chickpea stew is humble, hearty, and lovely in its simplicity.
Get the Chickpea Stew recipe.
Vegetable Beef Stew
Nothing can warm you up quite like a bowl of beef stew. This one is extra delicious, because it's packed with hearty vegetables like potatoes and carrots too. The beef does need to simmer for a long time to really tenderize and flavor it. Patience is a true virtue here, but trust us—it's worth it.
Get the Vegetable Beef Stew recipe.
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