This paper presents a stabilized ®nite element formulation for steady-state viscoplastic ¯ow and a simple strategy for solving the resulting non-linear equations with a Newton±Raphson algorithm. An Eulerian stabilized ®nite element formulation is presented, where mesh dependent terms are added element-wise to enhance the stability of the mixed ®nite element formulation. A local reconstruction method is used for computing derivatives of the stress ®eld needed when higher order elements are used. Linearization of the weak form is derived to enable a Newton±Raphson solution procedure of the resulting non-linear equations. In order to get convergence in the Newton±Raphson algorithm, a trial solution is needed which is within the radius of convergence. An eective strategy for progressively moving inside the radius of convergence for highly non-linear viscoplastic constitutive equations, typical of metals, is presented. Numerical experiments using the stabilization method with both linear and quadratic shape functions for the velocity and pressure ®elds in viscoplastic ¯ow problems show that the stabilized method and the progressive convergence strategy are eective in non-linear steady forming problems. Finally, conclusions are inferred and extensions of this work are discussed.