The 20 Best Stews in the World
A cuisine’s deepest knowledge sits in its slowest pot. Indonesia reduces coconut milk until rendang fries in its own oil, France buries beans and confit under a cassoulet crust, Senegal turns peanuts into silk. These are the 20 best stews in the world, each with an authentic recipe.
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Rendang
IndonesiaBeef cooked in coconut milk until the liquid goes and the meat fries in its own oil.
Step into the warm, aromatic world of Indonesian cooking with Rendang, a dish so beloved it is often called one of the most delicious in the world. Tender chunks of beef are slowly braised in coconut milk and a fragrant tangle of …
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Gulyás
HungaryBeef and onion with sweet paprika, thin enough to be soup in Hungary itself.
Discover Goulash, the dish that more than any other stands for Hungary at the table. Simple, generous and deeply savoury, it brings together tender beef, sweet onions and a bold spoonful of paprika into something far greater than …
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Cassoulet
FranceWhite beans, confit duck and sausage under a crust that gets broken and reformed seven times.
Discover Cassoulet, the hearty soul of southern French cooking. This slow-cooked stew brings together creamy white beans, succulent cuts of meat and rich, garlicky sausage into one deeply comforting pot. Born in the rolling …
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Feijoada
BrazilBlack beans with every cut of the pig. Served with rice, orange and toasted cassava.
Feijoada is black beans cooked with several kinds of pork, and the traditional cuts are the ones nobody else wanted: ear, tail, trotter, snout. It is served on Saturdays, it takes most of a day, and nobody makes it for two people.
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Mafe
SenegalGroundnut stew from Senegal, thick and slightly sweet, poured over rice.
Discover Mafé, the beloved national dish of Senegal. This hearty West African stew wraps tender chicken in a rich, creamy peanut sauce that is at once warming and deeply satisfying. With its exotic blend of local spices and the …
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Lamb Tagine
MoroccoCooked in a conical clay pot that returns the steam to the pot. Almonds and prunes go in.
Discover Lamb and Almond Tagine, one of Morocco's most treasured dishes. Tender, slow-cooked lamb meets freshly toasted almonds and a fragrant blend of warm spices in this North African classic. Cooked gently in the iconic conical …
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Irish Stew
IrelandMutton, potato, onion, water. The argument is only about whether carrots belong.
Irish Stew started as mutton, potato, onion and water. Carrots are a later addition and purists object to them. So is browning the meat, which the oldest versions skip entirely: everything goes in raw and cooks in layers until the …
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Bigos
PolandSauerkraut, fresh cabbage, several meats and prunes, reheated over days until it is right.
Bigos is sauerkraut, fresh cabbage and several kinds of meat cooked down over days. It is reheated repeatedly, and each reheating is held to improve it. Polish households make it in enormous pots at Christmas and eat it into …
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Pepperpot
GuyanaMeat simmered in cassareep, cassava syrup that preserves it. Some pots are decades old.
Pepperpot is preserved by cassareep, a black syrup boiled down from bitter cassava juice, which has antibacterial properties. A pot kept going and reboiled daily will last for weeks without refrigeration. Guyanese families make it …
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Ghormeh Sabzi
IranHerbs fried until dark with lamb, kidney beans and dried lime. Iran's most loved stew.
Meet Ghormeh Sabzi, the fragrant herb stew that many Iranians will name without hesitation as their country's national dish. A slow-simmered tangle of fresh greens, tender meat, kidney beans and the unmistakable sour note of dried …
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Chakapuli
GeorgiaLamb with tarragon, green plums and white wine. A spring dish and a very green one.
Meet Chakapuli, the spring stew that Georgians wait all year for. Tender lamb simmers slowly with armfuls of fresh herbs, tart young plums and a good splash of dry white wine until the whole pot smells like a hillside garden. It …
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Carbonnade Flamande
BelgiumBeef braised in dark Belgian ale with mustard on bread laid over the top.
Discover Carbonnade Flamande, the deeply savoury beef and beer stew that sits at the heart of Belgian home cooking. Tender chunks of beef simmer for hours with sweet onions and a bottle of dark, malty ale until the sauce turns …
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Oxtail Stew
JamaicaOxtail browned and braised with butter beans and allspice until the meat gives.
Meet Oxtail Stew, one of Jamaica's most soul-warming dishes. Slow-braised meat turns meltingly tender in a deeply savoury sauce, layered with allspice, thyme and a medley of fresh vegetables. It is hearty, generous and …
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Stifado
GreeceBeef with whole small onions, red wine vinegar and cinnamon.
Meet Stifado, one of Greece's most comforting classics. This rich, slow-cooked stew brings together tender beef and a generous tumble of small onions, simmered gently in red wine until everything melts into a deeply savoury sauce. …
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Sancocho
PanamaChicken, yam and culantro in a clear broth. Panama's cure for most things.
Sancocho is chicken soup with yuca and culantro, and the culantro is what makes it Panamanian rather than generic. It is a long-leafed herb, sharper than coriander, and Panamanians consider the soup a cure for most things …
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Domoda
GambiaGambia's groundnut stew, sour with tamarind and thick enough to coat the rice.
Domoda is groundnut stew, and the Gambia grows the groundnuts. Peanut butter, tomato and a little chilli cook down with meat and root vegetables into something thick and faintly sweet. It is served over rice and it is the Sunday …
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Potjiekos
South AfricaLayered in a three-legged iron pot over coals and never stirred.
Say hello to Potjiekos, one of South Africa's most cherished dishes and a true celebration of slow, sociable cooking. This hearty stew layers tender meat, colourful vegetables and warming spices in a heavy cast iron pot set over …
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Seswaa
BotswanaBeef boiled and pounded to strands with almost no seasoning. Botswana at its plainest.
Seswaa has three ingredients: beef, water and salt. It is boiled for hours and then pounded until the meat collapses into threads. No spice, no onion, nothing else. It is served at every wedding and funeral in Botswana, and the …
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Tochitură
RomaniaPork stewed in wine and paprika, served with polenta, fried egg and sheep's cheese.
Meet Tochitură moldovenească, a hearty Moldavian stew that sits at the very heart of Romanian home cooking. Tender chunks of pork and beef are slowly braised in a fragrant, garlicky sauce until meltingly soft, then served with a …
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Nikujaga
JapanBeef and potato simmered in soy, mirin and dashi. Japan's household standard.
Discover Nikujaga, one of Japan's most cherished comfort dishes. This homely stew brings together tender beef, soft potatoes and sweet onions in a glossy, lightly sweet soy broth. With the gentle warmth of mirin and soy sauce, it …
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