Hearty Stew Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated November 24, 2020
Credit: Victor Protasio

Stews are the ultimate cold-weather comfort food. Whether you prefer something classic, like a hearty beef stew in red wine sauce, or something lighter, like Gail Simmons's chicken stew, these recipes will warm you up. Here, 40 of our heartiest stews.

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Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables

Credit: © Ellie Miller
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Jim Clendenen's version of this classic French stew, called navarin d'agneau, was inspired by vegetables from an extraordinary organic produce purveyor, the Chef's Garden, in his native Ohio.

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Gochujang Cioppino

Credit: David Cicconi
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Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple makes his zippy cioppino with shrimp, squid, mussels and cod, then, to give it a lively Korean twist, he also includes tofu and gochujang (Korean red pepper paste).

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Lamb Tagine with Green Olives and Lemon

Credit: © Kana Okada
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When making most stews, cooks typically brown the meat before braising it; here, Ethan Stowell skips that step, which simplifies the Moroccan recipe and gives the lamb a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The dish is vibrantly flavored with ginger, cumin, coriander, olives and lemon; the broth is delicious over couscous.

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Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce

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For this beef stew, Jacques Pépin uses a special piece of the shoulder called the flatiron steak. This long, narrow piece is extremely lean, tender and moist, and it makes an ideal stew. He does not use stock, demiglace or even water. He makes his stew strictly with a robust red wine. This rich, winey beef stew is always a hit with his chef friends.

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Black-Eyed Pea Stew with Sausage

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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In the first half of Top Chef Season 4’s finale in Puerto Rico, Antonia Lofaso was eliminated after serving a stew with seriously undercooked pigeon peas. To simplify the process and save time, Gail Simmons skips the pigeon peas and uses black-eyed peas instead, which do not require overnight soaking and cook right in the pot in about an hour. The result is a thick, luscious stew loaded with tender peas and spicy Italian sausage.

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Slow Cooker Ham Hock and Chickpea Stew

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Marcia Kiesel credits split pea soup, one of her favorites, as the inspiration for this hearty stew. Like split peas, chickpeas need to simmer for a long time, making them great for a slow cooker.

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Moroccan Lamb Stew with Noodles

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Paula Wolfert learned a chicken dish called chaariya medfouna from a private cook named Karima. "Chaariya means noodles," Wolfert says. "Medfoun means a surprise or something hidden.” In Paula’s adaptation, the steamed noodles cover tender chunks of lamb spiced with cumin.

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Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice

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Tia Harrison breaks down a pig each week at Avedano’s and finds making stew a versatile way to use cuts like pork shoulder, shanks and belly. Here she cooks the stew with pleasantly bitter ancho chiles.

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Spicy Coconut Chicken Stew with Corn

Credit: Abby Hocking / Food & Wine
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This sweet and spicy coconut milk–based stew gets lots of bright flavor from spinach, basil, chiles and lime juice.

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Chickpea Stew with Spinach and Chorizo

Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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This stew, like all those in Catalonia, starts with a sofrito, a thick sauce made with sautéed onions and tomatoes. Once you get all the ingredients in the pot, there’s not much to do besides enjoy the aroma wafting from this hearty, spicy, soupy stew as it slowly cooks.

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Shellfish-Tomato Stew on Soft-Cooked Polenta

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This stew, from the owner of Casa Olivi in in Treia, Italy, loves to showcase the great seafood from the nearby Adriatic Sea. Here, she makes a tomato stew with shrimp, squid and mussels over milk-enriched polenta.

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Short Rib Stew

Credit: © Kana Okada
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When Ethan Stowell was growing up, his father was the family cook; beef stew was one of his specialties. Unlike his dad, who favored rump roast, Stowell uses short ribs, a marbled cut that turns fabulously succulent and tender when slow-simmered.

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Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Chicken Stew

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Make-ahead Tip: The chicken stew can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before serving.

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Kale and White-Bean Stew

Credit: Susan Spungen
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Combining two Portuguese favorites—kale-and-sausage soup and a bean, sausage, and tomato stew—makes a simple, sensational one-pot meal. To keep the focus on the vegetables, we’ve used just a tiny amount of fresh sausage; you can add more, if you like, or substitute dried chorizo or pepperoni.

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Ed's Portuguese Fish Stew

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This flavorful stew, named after chef Michael Cimarusti’s Portuguese uncle, is loaded with clams, mussels and cod as well as chunks of linguiça, a smoky, mildly hot cured Portuguese sausage.

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Carbonnade à la Flamande (Flemish Beef Stew)

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This classic Belgian beef stew is known for its sweet-sour combination of caramelized onions and beer. Any dark Belgian-style ale would be a good choice here. As with most stews, the dish will taste even better a day or two after it's made.

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Pork-and-Green-Chile Stew

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A mix of mild chiles (poblano, Anaheim) and hot ones (serrano) gives body and heat to this quick braise made with boneless pork shoulder (ask your butcher to trim it for you).

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Giant Lima Beans with Stewed Tomatoes and Oregano Pesto

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Tangy feta cheese, a bright herbal pesto and a crisp bread crumb topping all elevate this tomato-bean stew. It’s sensational made with meaty Rancho Gordo giant limas from Peru, silky gigantes or large limas from the grocery store.

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Cornish Hen Stew with Lemongrass and Chiles

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Served in the rustic northern-Thai style with the aromatics left in, this spicy, gingery stew makes a fantastic main course or starter. It’s also believed to boost energy. For an even healthier version, remove the skin from the Cornish hens before searing.

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Shrimp-and-Sausage Stew

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Even though Linton Hopkins’s stew is full of shrimp and sausage, the best part is the delicate lima beans, a Southern staple.

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Pork and Wild Mushroom Daube

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The Provençal stews called daubes are cooked in wide-bellied, narrow-necked earthenware pots (daubières). The lids are specifically designed to trap moisture during cooking. Dutch ovens or bean pots are perfect stand-ins for a daubière.

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Chicken and Barley Stew with Dill and Lemon

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This one-pot dinner from F&W’s Gail Simmons is an enriched take on classic chicken soup with rice; at once flavorful, hearty and comforting.

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Ethiopian Spiced Lamb Stew

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Made with tender, boneless leg of lamb, this quick-cooking staple of Ethiopian home cooking is called awaze tibs and is flavored with awaze sauce, a kicky blend of berbere spices, smoked paprika, lemon juice and wine. Some cooks like it dry, but Hiyaw Gebreyohannes prefers it saucy—all the better for mopping up with Ethiopia’s crêpe-like bread, injera.

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Creamy Oyster Stew with Fennel and Brown Bread Toasts

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Instead of serving this luxurious stew with oyster crackers, Jeremy Sewall brushes brown bread with rosemary butter, toasts it until crisp and dunks a piece in each bowl.

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Hunter's Stew with Braised Beef and Wild Rice

Credit: © Ethan Hill
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David Ansel makes this stew with venison and venison stock, but it’s equally delicious prepared with beef chuck. The meat is slowly braised in Madeira to bring out its rich flavor, then it’s combined with beef-based broth and nutty, slightly crunchy wild rice.

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Pork and Tomatillo Stew

Credit: © Ellie Miller
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This spicy Mexican-style stew is loaded with vegetables, including carrots, an excellent source of vitamins A and K. Andrew Murray makes it for his employees around harvest time. “It’s our comfort food at the winery,” he says. *“And it’s a nice excuse to stop for a few minutes and eat together, even when we're busy.”

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North African Fish Stew

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Cat Cora’s Moroccan-spiced stew is a great showcase for farmed catfish or tilapia.

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Hungarian Sausage Stew with Ale

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This recipe for lecsó “LEH-tcho”, a traditional sausage, tomato and bell pepper stew from Hungary, is made with beer for a deep, rich flavor.

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Veal Stew with Spring Greens

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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This lemony stew has a delicious mix of spinach, sorrel, watercress, romaine and herbs.

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Beef Rib Eye and Vegetable Stew

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This incredibly hearty stew can be on the table in less than half an hour.

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Lamb Stew with Swiss Chard and Garlic-Parsley Toasts

Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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This robust, satisfying stew is made with lamb shank, a relatively lean cut with marvelous lamb flavor. The Swiss chard here adds a mild earthiness as well as vitamin K and calcium.

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Seafood Gumbo

Credit: © Con Poulos
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This gumbo is rich and toasty thanks to the dark roux. It’s wonderful with oysters, shrimp and crab, but New Orleans chef Slade Rushing of Brennan’s says you can substitute what’s good in your area: clams, for instance, or even chicken. Filé powder is traditional in gumbo (you can find it at amazon.com). It’s made from ground sassafras leaves and adds an earthy, vegetal flavor.

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Fisherman's-Style Seafood Stew

Credit: Con Poulos
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Chef Fabio Trabocchi of Casa Luca in Washington, DC, says the key to this brodetto-inspired recipe is to cook to fish and shellfish in stages. The crusty ciabatta toasts make this Fisherman’s-Style Seafood Stew warming winter meal.

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