Our 17 Best Stew Recipes of All Time Will Warm You Up From the Inside Out

Chicken Stew with Dumplings

This extra comforting stew makes cooking so easy by using a rotisserie chicken and a bag of frozen vegetables. Voilà, you’ll have hearty stew on the table in under an hour. Recipe creator 2ND COURSE suggests mixing the dumpling dough in a food processor for added ease.

Instant Pot Best Beef Stew

“This Instant Pot stew recipe is the ultimate, hearty, melt-in-your-mouth comfort food. It’s so easy to make in an Instant Pot for a simple midweek dinner.” —Fioa

Chef John’s Beef and Barley Stew

“What a wonderful pot of stew for the cold days in the Midwest. Delightful to make. My husband said ‘what smells so good’ while it was cooking. Very tasty but be prepared to cook this for some time. One pot meal well worth the wait,” says reviewer cookingqueen.

Good New Orleans Creole Gumbo

This Cajun-spiced stew is packed with sausage, crabmeat, shrimp, and veggies in a spicy broth. Serve over cooked white rice for the perfect Creole gumbo. “This is one of the best gumbos I’ve ever had, and my family is from the South, so that is saying a lot. Just don’t tell my mother or grandmother. I doubled the recipe and brought over to my in-laws for a family dinner and they all loved it,” says home cook mellie18_99.

Best Jambalaya

This one-pot dish is a Louisiana favorite, and reviewers say this recipe produces authentic, spicy Cajun jambalaya. The andouille sausage, chicken, and rice make this Jambalaya extra hearty. Reviewers also like to add shrimp and sometimes replace the andouille sausage with smoked sausage or Italian sausage.

Cioppino

If you love seafood, you’ll want to try this Italian fish stew filled with shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, crabmeat, and cod. Reviewers like to use crushed tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes, and olive oil instead of butter. “Wow, this was amazing! It definitely tasted like a restaurant-quality dish. I had a dinner party for four people — my guests kept talking about it the entire evening,” says home cook Post-It Poet. You’ll want to serve it with crusty bread to sop up every bit of the savory broth.

Chef John’s Brazilian Fish Stew

“My interpretation of Brazilian seafood stew (or moqueca) uses just fish, so I’m calling it the weeknight version. It’s ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.” —Chef John

Pork Stew in Green Salsa (Guisado de Puerco con Tomatillos)

This authentic Mexican pork stew is best served with Spanish rice and warm tortillas. Recipe creator PLATO712 has since updated their recipe and now uses chicken broth in place of the water. “Delicious, with wonderfully complex but balanced flavors. All the ingredients and seasonings come together and mellow into something uniquely its own,” says reviewer naples34102.

West African Peanut Stew

“A hearty stew that’s super easy to make and great for peanut butter lovers. Can be made vegetarian or with chicken. In a pinch, feel free to use vegetable or corn oil for peanut oil, powdered ginger for fresh, water for stock, etc. Kale works well in place of collard greens,” says recipe contributor km1312. Reviewers say you can also make this recipe in a slow cooker.

Homemade Beef Stew

“Thick beef stew, good eaten from a bowl or poured over biscuits. If thicker stew is desired, add more cornstarch and/or take the cover off for the last 15-20 minutes. The longer this simmers, the better! Vary the herbs to your taste,” says recipe contributor Paula Antoniou. For extra flavor, reviewers recommend seasoning the beef and adding ketchup, steak sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to the stew.

Irish Lamb Stew

This authentic Irish Lamb Stew only takes 20 minutes to prep and can be made even easier by using a slow cooker. If you use the slow cooker, you don’t have to brown the lamb — just throw everything in the pot and leave it for a few hours. Some reviewers like to thicken this stew with flour and use beer instead of wine in the broth.

Brazilian Black Bean Stew

“This is absolutely and BY FAR the most delicious stew I’ve ever made. I thought initially that my family wouldn’t like it because, well, mango + beans + ham + cilantro? But I got compliments all around for the absolutely amazing flavor! This collection of tastes is fantastic, I couldn’t believe it. SO easy to make too,” says reviewer SunshyneGoddess.

Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

“This delicious, healthy, North African-inspired stew is a family favorite, served with warm bread or even over couscous. You can make the entire stew ahead of time, let it cool, and refrigerate it for up to three days or freeze it for several months. You can also chop the veggies and mix the spices ahead of time, freeze them, and assemble it with the canned ingredients the day you wish to cook it for a wonderful, exotic meal in just 30 minutes,” says recipe creator Make-Ahead Mamas.

Frogmore Stew

A Southern classic, this Frogmore Stew has red potatoes, hot smoked sausage, corn, and fresh shrimp. “I actually live about five minutes from Frogmore, SC and I have to tell you that we all love this stew!! Easy to prepare and feeds many people. Our kids get excited when we serve the stew because they love peeling the shrimp. We also add onions to the stew with the potatoes to give it more flavor,” says reviewer Bcrumley.

Chile Colorado

If you aren’t a fan of tomatoes then this tomato-free chile recipe is for you. Some reviewers have trouble finding New Mexico chiles, so they recommend using guajillo chile peppers instead. Serve this stew with sour cream, cheese, and corn tortillas.

Oyster Stew

Quick and easy oyster stew ready in a little over 30 minutes? Sign us up! Try serving this stew with homemade bread and a few drops of hot sauce. “This was very easy and foolproof. The taste was surprisingly delicious even though there were so few ingredients. We added a few oyster crackers before serving and it was exceptional. I highly recommend this stew,” says home cook IW8FORSNO.

Brunswick Stew

“I have made this recipe twice now…once for just my family, the second time for a large crowd. Both times received raved reviews. My 14-year-old said, ‘Mom, this is the best stew we’ve ever had!’ It was an all-out hit. Everyone loved the slight sweetness that the barbecue sauce gave it,” says home cook KLEEW17. Some reviewers like to substitute pulled pork, roast, or steak for the ground meats and make this stew in the slow cooker.

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