15 Stews to Amp Up the Cozy

As soon as the first leaves fall, it's time to pull out the Dutch oven and get simmering, people.

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Published September 07, 2023

A white bowl of classic all-American beef stew next to the stew pot. — Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

There are plenty of ways to differentiate a soup from a stew—the ratio of liquid to ingredients, for example, or the size to which said ingredients are cut. But let's put technical factors aside for a moment, and take a slightly less tangible approach: For starters, soup invites you to slide into a light cardigan and find comfort at the dining room table, while stew prefers you slip into your most obnoxiously thick knitwear—a turtleneck so chunky you can barely see over the top, for example—and settle in next to a roaring fire. If soup suggests you get on with your day, stew wants you to lick your bowl clean of its long-simmered sauce, then (please) take that nap you've been dreaming about for weeks.

That is to say: Whether meaty or vegan, complex or as humble as can be, stews offer a kind of extreme comfort that few other dishes can. Here are 15 of our favorites, each worth digging out your beefiest turtleneck for.

This article's introduction was written by Lindsay Anderson, while the descriptions of each recipe were written by staff members and contributors for Serious Eats.

Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew With Red Wine, Mushrooms, & Bacon)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
“One of the most delicious beef stews concocted by man,” according to Julia Child, and we agree. Here we cook the stew with large pieces of aromatic vegetables, then discard those in favor of fresh diced and lightly sautéed ones later, yielding a flavorful stew with vegetables that haven't been cooked to death.
Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew With Red Wine, Mushrooms, and Bacon)
Soondubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
Serious Eats / Jessica Leibowitz
Kimchi, small dried anchovies, gochujang, and Korean chile flakes (all of which can be found in most Asian supermarkets) build complex layers of flavor in the broth—even though it all comes together in a remarkably short amount of time.
Soondubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
Hearty One-Pot Black-Eyed Pea Stew With Kale and Andouille
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
Cooked in one pot, this easy-to make, easy-to-clean stew is perfect for a lazy Sunday. Not only that, but it becomes even more flavorful overnight in the fridge.
Hearty One-Pot Black-Eyed Pea Stew With Kale and Andouille
Colombian Chicken Stew With Potatoes, Tomato, and Onion
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
Ready to eat in just 30 minutes, this deceptively-simple Colombian stew is made in a pressure cooker without any added water; the end result is tender meat that falls off the bone and a richly-flavored broth with concentrated chicken and tomato flavors.
Colombian Chicken Stew With Potatoes, Tomato, and Onion
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Cioppino (San Francisco Seafood Stew)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Good cioppino starts with a rich broth and ends with perfectly cooked fish. In this recipe, we carefully sequence the poaching of each type of seafood, then serve it with a roasted red pepper salsa that adds even more layers of flavor to SF’s most famous stew.
Cioppino (San Francisco Seafood Stew)
All-American Beef Stew
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
Liberated from the strong opinions tied to ‘authentic’ beef bourguignon and goulash, American beef stew is open to much wider interpretations. Here, we opt for tender beef and vegetables coated in an intense, umami-rich sauce.
All-American Beef Stew
Traditional French Cassoulet
Serious Eats / Fred Hardy, Ana Kelly, Josh Hoggle
Here come the French with another famous meaty stew, this time a combination of poultry, sausage, pork, and beans all melded together under a rich, dark brown crust.
Traditional French Cassoulet
Classic Oyster Stew With Fennel
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
While it's not thick like a clam chowder or hearty like a beef stew, this oyster stew manages to soothe in its own perfectly restrained way; it’s also one of the simplest and quickest cold-weather comforts to prepare.
Classic Oyster Stew With Fennel
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Provençal Ratatouille
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This classic Provençal stew allows ripe, late-summer produce to shine. Cooking the vegetables separately allows you to control perfectly the level of doneness for each one; simmering them together then briefly melds their flavors.
Provençal Ratatouille
Goulash (Hungarian Beef and Paprika Stew)
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This old-fashioned goulash is loaded with vegetables, beef, and its famous signature—sweet Hungarian paprika—making for a hearty winter meal.
Goulash (Hungarian Beef and Paprika Stew)
Braised Pork and Bean Stew With Cinnamon, Fennel, and Onion
Serious Eats / Debbie Wee
Near-melted beans and spoon-tender pork are just the thing for a cold evening.
Creamy Braised Pork and Bean Stew With Cinnamon, Fennel, and Onion
Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This easy, one-pot meal is packed with flavor and ready in under an hour. We stew black beans in the pressure cooker with spicy Hatch chiles, smoky andouille sausage, and chicken legs. The final product is rich and the chicken fall-off-the-bone tender.
Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew
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Ribollita (Hearty Tuscan Bean, Bread, and Vegetable Stew)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This hearty Tuscan riff on minestrone is loaded with tender vegetables and beans, and differentiates itself by being thickened with bread. The final consistency can be adjusted by leaving the stew more broth-y, or by cooking it down into a thicker porridge.
Ribollita (Hearty Tuscan Bean, Bread, and Vegetable Stew)
Nigerian Beef Stew
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
A mainstay of many Nigerian meals, there are countless ways to make this ultra-flavorful dish. Here we start by cooking beef chuck in a seasoned broth, then reserve the resulting stock to cook the stew; to further deepen the beef's flavor, we roast it before adding it to the pot.
Nigerian Beef Stew
Real Bouillabaisse (Bouillabaisse Marseillaise)
Serious Eats / Liz Clayman
Bouillabaisse (pronounced "BOO-ya-bess") is a rustic fish stew from the Provençal port city of Marseille. Aside from the variety of fish, it's defined by a handful of key ingredients and flavors: floral saffron, sweet and anise-y fennel, and a subtle note of orange zest.
Real Bouillabaisse (Bouillabaisse Marseillaise)

15 Stews to Amp Up the Cozy

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