Stew: keep the juices, respect the leftovers

Stew is a way of cooking more than a single food, and the research on it is scattered. The one trial here that measured what a stew meal does in the body was tiny. In 5 healthy adults, a single stew breakfast made with fiber-rich African plant flours, detarium or cissus, lowered blood glucose after the meal, and across the stew and bread test meals the fall in the glucose curve ran from 38 to 62%. Those flours are not ordinary stew ingredients, and the stew meals did not lower insulin the way the breads did. What stewing reliably decides is where the nutrients end up. By the USDA retention table, braised beef eaten without its juices keeps 55% of its potassium and 35% of vitamin B6, against 100% and 50% when the juices are eaten too. Those factors are for a braised beef roast, and in a stew the liquid is usually eaten. The clearest risk in the research is the leftover pot. In a 2024 funeral outbreak in Uganda, 97% of cases against 40% of controls had eaten leftover beef stew for breakfast (OR 57, 95% CI 5.4 to 600), after the stew was topped up with unboiled water and not reheated enough. CDC ties C. perfringens outbreaks to food cooked in large batches and held between 40 and 140 F, and its general advice for cooked food, which does not name stew, is to refrigerate it within 2 hours and reheat leftovers to 165 F (74 C).

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Homemade beef stew in the UK tables has 105 calories, 11.9 g protein, 4.6 g fat, 2.7 mg zinc and 259 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), while the US survey beef stew lists 8.76 g protein and 307 mg sodium. — CoFID 2021 record 19-473 Stew, beef, homemade and USDA FNDDS Stew, beef 27311410, per 3.5 oz (100 g) (n = 2 reference records) Evidence E source
  CoFID: energy 105 calories, protein 11.9 g, fat 4.6 g, saturated 1.53 g, water 76.3 g, iron 1.17 mg, zinc 2.7 mg, sodium 259 mg; FNDDS: protein 8.76 g, sodium 307 mg

What a real portion looks like

• One cup of beef stew (255 g) in the US survey database carries about 22.3 g protein and 783 mg sodium. — USDA FNDDS Stew, beef, food code 27311410 (fdc 2706592) (n = 2 measures) Evidence E source
  1 cup 255 g: protein 22.3 g, sodium 782.9 mg; quantity not specified also 255 g

What your body absorbs

• A behavior change program in a Nigerian town raised how often mothers added green leafy vegetables to stews (change 0.3 vs 0.0 in the control town) to improve iron intake of adolescent girls. — 527 mother and daughter pairs, daughters aged 12-18, two towns in South-West Nigeria, 2016 (n = 527 pairs) Evidence C source
  Greens added to stews: change 0.3 (SE 0.03) intervention vs 0.0 (SE 0.04) control, p < 0.001, r = 0.36; iron-fortified cubes in stews did not differ, p = 0.07

What cooking and storage change

• By the USDA table, braised beef eaten without its juices keeps only 55% of potassium and niacin and 35% of vitamin B6, against 100%, 90% and 50% when the juices are eaten too. — USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors Release 6, Beef Products, BEEF,ROAST,BRAISED without drippings (651) and with drippings (652) (n = 16 nutrients per method row) Evidence E source
  Without drippings: vitamin B6 35%, thiamin 45%, potassium 55%, sodium 55%, niacin 55%, vitamin B12 60%, magnesium 65%; with drippings: vitamin B6 50%, thiamin 60%, niacin 90%, vitamin B12 75%, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus 100%; iron and zinc 100% in both

What it does to your health

• Adding fiber-rich African plant flours to a stew or bread breakfast cut the blood glucose area under the curve by 38 to 62% in healthy adults, but the stew meals did not lower insulin. — healthy adults, single test meals with 50 g (stew) or 70 g (bread) available carbohydrate and 10-12 g NSP; 5 subjects on stew meals, 10 on bread meals (n = 15) Evidence B source
  Glucose AUC reductions 38-62% vs control meals, P < 0.006; insulin AUC fell 43% and 36% after the breads, not after the stews

Safety, limits and interactions

• USDA FSIS says casseroles and other combination dishes must be cooked to 165 °F (74 °C) measured with a food thermometer, and raw beef, pork, lamb and veal cuts to at least 145 °F (63 °C) with a three-minute rest. — consumers cooking mixed meat dishes, USA Evidence E source
  165 °F combination dishes; 145 °F plus 3-minute rest for whole cuts
• CDC links C. perfringens outbreaks to foods cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures. It advises keeping cooked food at 140 F or hotter or 40 F or colder, refrigerating within 2 hours of cooking and reheating leftovers to 165 F. — General population (home food handling of cooked food and leftovers) (n = -) Evidence E source
  Large batches held between 40 F and 140 F linked to outbreaks; refrigerate within 2 hours, hold hot at 140 F or above, reheat to 165 F
• In a funeral food poisoning outbreak in Uganda, 97% of cases against 40% of controls had eaten leftover beef stew for breakfast (OR 57). — 65 cases among funeral attendees, Jinja District, Uganda, February 2024; unmatched case-control study (n = 65 cases) Evidence C source
  Leftover beef stew OR 57 (95% CI 5.4 to 600); supper beef stew OR 2.7 (95% CI 1.2 to 6.2); 5% of cases died
• A braised dish kept warm in a chafing dish below 65 C was tied to a C. perfringens outbreak at a Japanese base (OR 12.30). — 281 members of a military base in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, February 2002 (n = 281) Evidence C source
  Braised chop suey OR 12.30 (95% CI 1.90 to 521.00); dinner overall Mantel-Haenszel OR 3.59

What people believe that the data does not support

• In two South African districts where pork tapeworm is endemic, most consumers cooked pork as a stew (71.4% and 61.2%), and 43.6% preferred well-cooked pork because they believed cooking kills germs. — 361 consumers interviewed in Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo districts, Eastern Cape, South Africa (n = 361) Evidence C source
  Pork cooked as stew 71.4% (152/213) and 61.2%; reason for well-cooked pork 'cooking kills germs' 43.6% (121/277)

The bottom line

Numbers depend on the recipe. Homemade beef stew in the UK tables has 105 calories, 11.9 g protein, 4.6 g fat and 259 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), while the US survey beef stew lists 8.76 g protein and 307 mg sodium. That gap is the spread of the dish. A 255 g cup of US beef stew carries about 22.3 g protein and 783 mg sodium, calculated from the per 3.5 oz (100 g) values, and the salt in a homemade pot can differ a lot from that. Stew is also a way to carry vegetables. In a Nigerian program where a coin flip chose which of two towns got the intervention, mothers there added green leafy vegetables to stews more often (change 0.3 against 0.0 in the control town). The study counted how often greens went in and did not measure the daughters' iron status. Adding iron-fortified stock cubes to stews did not differ significantly between the towns. Who should be careful. The risk sits with big batches kept warm or kept over. USDA FSIS says casseroles and other combination dishes must be cooked to 165 F (74 C), measured with a food thermometer, and raw pork, beef, lamb and veal cuts to at least 145 F (63 C) with a three-minute rest. For the leftover pot, CDC links C. perfringens outbreaks to foods cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures. Its general rule for cooked food, which does not name stew, is to keep it at 140 F (60 C) or hotter or 40 F (4 C) or colder. CDC also advises refrigerating cooked food within 2 hours of cooking and reheating leftovers to 165 F (74 C) before serving. A braised dish kept warm in a chafing dish was tied to a Clostridium perfringens outbreak at a Japanese military base (OR 12.30, 95% CI 1.90 to 521.00), a very wide interval. The inspection blamed holding it below 65 C. That figure describes this one outbreak and is not a safe holding temperature. In Uganda the germ, Aeromonas, came with the water added to the pot. We have no card on stew for pregnancy, children or medicines. In two South African districts where pork tapeworm is common, most people cooked pork as a stew (71.4% and 61.2%), and 43.6% preferred it well cooked because they believed cooking kills germs. The survey did not measure whether long stewing kills the cysts, and the FSIS 145 F figure above is a general rule for raw pork cuts, not a test against tapeworm.

Compared with other foods

Sources

1. stew-daily-r7-06 · reference dataset
   CoFID 19-473 Stew, beef, homemade: Energy 105 kcal, Protein 11.9 g, Fat 4.6 g, Satd FA /100g fd 1.53 g, Water 76.3 g, Iron 1.17 mg, Zinc 2.7 mg, Sodium 259 mg || FNDDS Stew, beef, fdc 2706592: Protein 8.76 G per 100 g, Sodium 307 MG per 100 g
   CoFID 2021 code 19-473 and USDA FNDDS code 27311410 · checked 2026-09-29
2. stew-daily-r7-07 · reference dataset
   Stew, beef, fdc 2706592: 1 cup 255 g | Quantity not specified 255 g | Protein 8.76 G per 100 g | Sodium 307 MG per 100 g
   USDA FNDDS, Stew beef code 27311410 · checked 2026-09-29
3. stew-daily-r7-02 · clinical trial
   The increase in greens added to stews was larger in the Intervention town compared to the Control town (MIntervention = 0.3 [SE = 0.03]; MControl = 0.0 [SE = 0.04], p < 0.001, r = 0.36).
   Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 2018 · checked 2026-09-29
4. stew-daily-r7-08 · nutrient retention factor dataset
   USDA-RETN-R6:651 BEEF,ROAST,BRAISED,WO/DRIPPINGS | vitamin_b6_mg 35% | thiamin_mg 45% | potassium_mg 55% | niacin_mg 55% | vitamin_b12_ug 60% | magnesium_mg 65% | iron_mg 100% | zinc_mg 100% || USDA-RETN-R6:652 BEEF,ROAST,BRAISED,W/DRIPPINGS | vitamin_b6_mg 50% | thiamin_mg 60% | vitamin_b12_ug 75% | niacin_mg 90% | potassium_mg 100% | magnesium_mg 100% | iron_mg 100% | zinc_mg 100%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007) · checked 2026-09-29
5. stew-daily-r7-01 · RCT
   Compared with the controls, detarium and cissus meals elicited significant reductions (P < 0.006) in plasma glucose levels at most postprandial time points and for area-under-the-curve (AUC) values (AUC reductions 38-62%).
   Br J Nutr, 1998 · checked 2026-09-29
6. sf-fsis-16 · agency advice
   Casseroles and other combination dishes must be cooked to 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer. ...Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb, and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F...For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.
   USDA FSIS, Doneness Versus Safety · checked 2026-10-08
7. sf-stew-hf-1 · agency advice
   Foods cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures have been linked to outbreaks of C. perfringens food poisoning. ... Keep cooked foods at 40°F or colder or 140°F or hotter. ... Refrigerate within 2 hours after cooking the food or removing it from an appliance that's keeping it at a safe temperature. ... Reheat leftovers to 165°F or hotter before serving.
   CDC, Preventing C. perfringens Food Poisoning · checked 2026-10-08
8. stew-daily-r7-03 · case-control
   Additionally, 97% of the cases compared to 40% of the controls ate leftover beef stew for Tuesday breakfast (OR = 57; 95%CI = 5.4-600).
   BMC Infect Dis, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
9. stew-daily-r7-04 · case-control
   A case-control study showed that, among the food supplied at dinner on February 12, the braised chop suey was significantly associated with the illness (odds ratio: 12.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.90-521.00).
   Acta Med Okayama, 2005 · checked 2026-09-29
10. stew-daily-r7-05 · cross-sectional
    consumers in Alfred Nzo (71.4%: 152/213) and OR Tambo (61.2%: 74/12) mostly cooked pork as a stew, followed by braai/barbeque and frying or baking.
    BMC Infect Dis, 2020 · checked 2026-09-29