What is the difference between stew and casserole?

A stew generally involves the braising of some meat in bite sized chunks in liquid at fairly low heat, thus slow cooking, and includes vegetables that may be added at different times during the braising time. Braising can be done on the stove top or in the oven.

A casserole is virtually always baked in the oven, and will involve multiple ingredients that may or may not include meat of some kind.

Both of these tend to be considered as meals in one dish, though many people will add accompanying dishes such as fresh salads.


This description is from my own experience. If you google the definitions of stew and casserole you may find they vary from mine.

I've always thought the difference was the size of the pieces/chunks of meat.
Casserole tends to have sizeable identifiable portions of whatever meat whereas stew is more like a soup or thickened sauce with the meat pieces being so far cooked they have lost much of their texture and shape.

however ....
wikpedia says
A distinction can be made between casseroles and stews: stewing is a cooking process whereby heat is applied to the bottom of the cooking vessel (typically over a fire or on a stove), whereas casserole cooking is generally done in an oven to bake where heat circulates all around the cooking vessel. Casseroles may be cooked covered or uncovered, while braises are typically covered to prevent evaporation.

A casserole, from the French for "saucepan", is a large, deep dish used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself called a casserole dish or casserole pan. In British English, this type of dish is frequently also called a bake, coinciding with the cooking technique used to cook casseroles.

The term ragout (French ragoût) refers to a main-dish stew. (The etymologically related Italian ragù is a sauce such as Bolognese used typically to dress pasta.

casserole = ingredients all mixed together and cooked in the oven in a dish called a casserole dish (shallow, ovenproof dish)

stew = chunks of meat, vegetables, broth cooked on the stove top in a big pan or pot.

At least that's how I'd explain it.

I can win some serious money with this knowledge.