As the days become shorter, it’s time to cook comforting, warming food, and what better than a nourishing stew. Simple to make and usually in just one pot, stews make great use of more economical cuts of meat and root vegetables. There’s little hands-on time, too. All the work is done by slow cooking. This selection of recipes has a stew for everyone, whether you prefer meat, poultry, fish or vegetarian. From rich, wine-laced French classics to light and spicy dishes, get cozy with a stew.
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Lamb tagine
North African lamb tagine is spicy and aromatic, rather than chili hot. This recipe uses lamb neck fillet, which is perfect for slow-cooking. Most of the ingredients will be in your pantry, too. It contains dried apricots but this is a good recipe to use up any dried fruits you may have, such as figs or dates – a mixture works well. Serve it with couscous or rice.
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Smoky bean and monkfish stew
The smokiness in this hearty fish stew comes from Spanish smoked paprika. Monkfish can be quite expensive, so you could use thick chunks of hake instead. Containing a can of cannellini beans, this Mediterranean dish is quite filling, so you just need to serve it with crusty bread. It’s a simple dish which requires little preparation and cooks in just 30 minutes.
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Beef stew with dumplings
Winter food doesn’t get more comforting than this British classic. It’s also a very economical dish, where you can use any cut of beef suitable for slow cooking, such as chuck or shin. A few spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce add a tasty savory note. The dumplings are added towards the end of cooking, just for long enough to absorb some of the rich, beef gravy.
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Pasta and chickpea stew
Here’s a really simple recipe which is rustled up using a can of chickpeas, a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of spaghetti hoops. Instead of the spaghetti hoops, you could also use cooked, small pasta shapes such as macaroni or orecchiette. It contains plenty of garlic, which is slowly cooked with the chickpeas until it’s sweet. A pinch of chili at the end of cooking lifts the dish and balances out all the flavors.
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Spicy prawn and tomato stew
If you love garlicky, hot and fiery food, this Palestinian dish is for you. Try using a mixture of squid rings and prawns, to make it more economical, and cook them for the same time as the prawns, just a few minutes. If you cook squid for too long, it can be tough and rubbery. You could serve this with flat breads or rice, with a green salad on the side.
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Simple lamb stew
This really is a simple stew. Everything is cooked in one pot, including carrots and potatoes, so there’s no need to add a side dish. It uses chunks of leg of lamb, but you could also use lamb neck fillet. The lamb is cooked in beef stock and red wine, so it’s beautifully rich and warming.
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Hearty, herby stew
Packed with fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley, this is a healthy, winter recipe which happens to be vegan, too. It’s high in filling protein with lentils and cannellini beans, and is seasoned with yeast extract and Dijon mustard to add a savory taste. Just serve with some wholemeal bread. It will be on the table in just 45 minutes.
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Smoky chicken and black bean stew
The smokiness in this earthy, winter warmer comes from chorizo and smoked paprika. It’s made using boned and skinless chicken thighs, perfect for slow cooking and good value for money. It’s made extra-filling with the black beans. You could serve it with crusty bread to mop up the juices, or some rice or mashed potato.
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Beef Stroganoff
A classic 70s recipe of strips of beef cooked with paprika, mushrooms, onions and sour cream. Traditionally made with beef fillet, strips of rump steak will work well as a substitute. It’s flambéd with brandy but to be on the safe side, you can just heat the brandy until it bubbles, to burn off the alcohol before adding it to the finished dish.
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Sticky sausage and bean stew
This super-simple dish will become a firm favorite. The sausages are roasted on a bed of diced squash, chopped celery and onion with tomatoes and fresh rosemary, then you just add more tomatoes, chicken stock, cannellini beans, honey and balsamic vinegar for a sticky sweet and sour flavor. It’s all done and dusted in 45 minutes, with only five minutes’ preparation.
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Red red stew
This stew, of black-eyed beans cooked in a spicy tomato sauce, is a breakfast or main meal staple in Ghana. You can save on the cooking time by using canned beans instead of dried. It’s served with fried plantain, which are definitely worth a go if you’ve never tried them, or serve with flat breads. This is a vegan recipe made with mostly pantry ingredients.
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Richly spiced lamb stew
Chunks of leg of lamb are slow cooked in ale, chili, spices, dates and sultanas to give a tender, rich stew with a hint of sweetness. Fresh tomatoes are added towards the end of cooking, but you could use canned, drained plum tomatoes instead. It tastes even better eaten the day after making it.
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Lamb shanks with Cheddar mash
Lamb shanks are a tough cut of meat from the hind leg, so are perfect for slow cooking. They are good value for money, too, and full of flavor. They are slow cooked with fennel, tomatoes, white wine and fresh herbs in this recipe, until the meat falls away from the bone, and served with an indulgent cheesy mashed potato.
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Tangy seafood stew
A fish stew with a difference from Vietnam, this dish is aromatic and refreshing. You need a firm, white fish for this recipe, so try hake or cod. It’s combined with prawns and clams, though mussels would work, too. The sourness from the fish sauce is counter-balanced by chunks of fresh pineapple (you can use frozen) for sweetness. It’s great served with warm tortillas or rice.
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Basque-style chicken
Here’s an easy, one-pot dish from southwest France, of chicken legs and potatoes cooked in white wine and tomatoes with red peppers, a little chili, herbs and garlic. You could use eight chicken thighs instead of four legs if you prefer. It tastes even better the day after you’ve made it.
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Beef stifado
Stifado is a traditional Greek stew where beef is cooked in red wine and tomatoes with lots of pickling onions. These are a pain to peel, so cover them in boiling water for five minutes to make it much easier. The beef needs to be marinated overnight in the wine, orange peel, garlic and spices. This dish freezes well, too.
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Braised lamb with sweet potato
Chunks of lamb neck fillet are made into a hearty stew with chunks of sweet potato, tomatoes and haricot beans. The sauce has a sweet and spicy kick with the addition of mango chutney and curry powder. It’s an easy one-pot dish with just 15 minutes’ preparation and feeds six, a real crowd-pleaser.
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Winter venison stew
Venison is leaner than beef and is lower in saturated fats, so a good, healthy choice. This recipe uses neck of venison which is slowly cooked in stock with onions and garlic. A little tomato purée adds sweetness, then a selection of root vegetables are added at the end. The sauce is rich and thick with a lovely gloss.
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Keralan fish stew
This aromatic dish has all the flavors of south India – coconut, curry leaves, lime, tamarind and chili. The recipe uses fillets of sea bass, but you can just make up the sauce then simmer chunks of white fish, squid or prawns until cooked. Small eggplants and okra are added, though green beans or sugar snaps can be used instead of the okra, if you prefer.
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Ale-braised ox cheek stew with Cheddar cobblers
Don’t be put off by the thought of ox cheeks. Cooked long and slow, they are full of flavor and meltingly tender. Start the recipe the day before making it by marinating the ox cheeks in ale. The cheese cobblers are like a savory scone which are crisp on top, while the underside absorbs the sauce from the stew. They would be perfect to top any beef casserole.
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Persian lamb stew
This is a sweet, aromatic stew with saffron, dried apricots, chickpeas, cinnamon and honey. It uses lean leg of lamb, though you could use lamb shoulder, which is cheaper than leg, if well-trimmed of the fat. You would cook the shoulder for twice the time of the leg until it’s tender. Just serve with rice.
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Bouillabaisse
A Mediterranean fish stew from the South of France served with croutons and garlic mayonnaise, Bouillabaisse is a filling meal. The basic broth to which you add the fish is a flavor sensation of fennel, tomatoes, white wine, peppers, orange and aniseed. You can add whichever fish you like to it, but mussels, red mullet or another white fish and shrimps are a good combination.
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Classic Burmese pork curry
This is not quite a curry in the Indian sense, full of spice and chili. It consists of slow-cooked chunks of pork shoulder with onions, ginger, sugar and soy sauce. After about an hour and half’s cooking time, you end up with meltingly tender pork in a sweet, sticky sauce. Serve with plain rice and some stir-fried greens.
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Cod and shrimp tagine with olives and lemon
The great thing about a fish stew is that it’s so quick to cook. This recipe has Moroccan spicing, a little chili, tomatoes, saffron, ginger and garlic as a base in which you cook the fish. Instead of chickpeas, it uses potatoes. With the addition of pitted green olives, it’s a perfect one-pot dish which doesn’t need any accompaniment.
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Goan chicken and chorizo stew
The “Goan” element of this easy recipe is the chilies, ginger, spices and tamarind. It’s one of those great dishes which takes just five minutes to prepare, then it cooks happily all on its own for 45 minutes. Using just one pan, it could be a midweek favorite, with chicken thighs and chorizo being the stars of the show. Just serve with crusty bread.
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Lamb stew in ale
Here’s our “almost Irish stew” recipe, though to be authentic, you would cook it with mutton, and not with a dark ale. It uses lamb shoulder, a thrifty cut which adds so much flavor from the fat. It’s made all in one pot with carrots, swede, onions and potatoes, so there’s no need to serve with extra vegetables, though it’s very good served with buttered kale or cabbage,
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Chianti beef stew with herbs
You’ll need shin of beef for this recipe. It takes time to cook until perfectly tender, but shin adds a thickness and richness, especially when it’s cooked in a bottle of red wine. Any full-bodied wine with a good amount of tannin would work here, so a cabernet sauvignon is a good option. Just serve with crusty bread, mashed potato and seasonal greens.
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Beef bourguignon
A French classic from the Burgundy region, you can use brisket, chuck or shin of beef, all cheaper cuts which are perfect for slow cooking. You need to allow time for the meat to marinate in red wine, thyme, garlic and Cognac. Once cooked, you add small onions, crisp lardons or pancetta, and button mushrooms. If you’re making it in advance, add these before serving. It tastes even better eaten the day after making.
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Brazilian roasted vegetable feijoada
A feijoada is a black bean stew made with pork or beef, but here’s a vegetarian version made with roasted sweet potato, onions and peppers. You make a sauce of cooked onion, garlic, paprika, ground cilantro, fresh thyme, stock and canned and rinsed black beans. Mix it all together, and you have a tasty dish to serve with a punchy tomato salsa, sour cream and wholegrain rice.
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Daube of beef
A daube of beef is a classic – slow-cooked beef which has been marinated in, and then cooked in, red wine. Rather than preparing your own lardons, just buy pre-cut bacon lardons or pancetta to save time. You’ll need to marinate the beef overnight and allow for six hours’ cooking time, but with hints of orange, fresh herbs and garlic, it will be time well spent.
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