Meet the Competitors: Chopped Legends Tournament 21 Photos
Four of Chopped's most legendary judges will hand-pick the 16 past champions they want representing them in the kitchen.
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Episodes
See Episode GuideUncommon Ramen
Four chefs are determined to be the next Chopped Champion, but only one of them will succeed! In the first round, combining ramen with a fruity cereal snack seems like the biggest challenge the competitors might face, but a serious injury leaves one chef stunned and significantly set back. Next, a strange frozen food is part of the puzzle in the entrée round. Then in the final round, the last two chefs attempt to show their very different culinary points of view through their bologna and orange desserts.
Beast Feast
The competitors face off in a protein-packed battle, even featuring some fierce ingredients that are too big for the baskets. In a fast and loud appetizer round, the blenders are booming as the chefs try to make meaty appetizers with a creative touch. Then, the chefs get to choose what part of an imposing whole animal to use in their second dish. The final chefs must rise to the challenge in order to make marvelously piggy desserts.
Dressed for Success
The chefs open the first basket to find dressed beer and three other surprises. A weird fungus and a peculiar pizza pie are the shockers in the entree round, and the two remaining chefs break down some adorable dumplings on a quest to build remarkable desserts.
Thanksgiving Champions
Four Chopped champions are hungry for more as they return for a special Thanksgiving competition. The ferociously competitive chefs must deal with a shocking poultry product in the appetizer round, and the three who make it to the entree round get a big, bright orange surprise. A Thanksgiving dessert basket packed with pumpkin and cranberry flavors inspires the chefs to celebrate the holiday on their final plates.
Holiday Sugar and Spice
Holiday desserts take center stage as four Chopped champions return for a sweet competition with sugar and spice and not everything nice in the baskets! A bold beverage in the first round has the chefs making faces and making do. Unwrapping chocolates in a hurry is a tedious part of the challenge in round two, and a candy cane with an unconventional flavor threatens the champions' plans for magnificent desserts.
Grand Champs' Holiday Hurrah
Holiday wishes do come true! Four Chopped Grand Champions are headed home to the Chopped kitchen for the holidays, but they will be challenged with some extremely tough baskets. The chefs must figure out how to use a kooky candy cane in their appetizers. A meat in the entrée basket is bound to be met with some trepidation. Then, ingenuity, speed and skill are on display in a captivating dessert round that includes pomegranate. Every course will be extra special, since the competitors are all amazingly talented winners with nothing left to prove but plenty left to give.
Grand Champs' Holiday Hurrah
Holiday wishes do come true! Four Chopped Grand Champions are headed home to the Chopped kitchen for the holidays, but they will be challenged with some extremely tough baskets. The chefs must figure out how to use a kooky candy cane in their appetizers. A meat in the entrée basket is bound to be met with some trepidation. Then, ingenuity, speed and skill are on display in a captivating dessert round that includes pomegranate. Every course will be extra special, since the competitors are all amazingly talented winners with nothing left to prove but plenty left to give.
Holiday Sugar and Spice
Holiday desserts take center stage as four Chopped champions return for a sweet competition with sugar and spice and not everything nice in the baskets! A bold beverage in the first round has the chefs making faces and making do. Unwrapping chocolates in a hurry is a tedious part of the challenge in round two, and a candy cane with an unconventional flavor threatens the champions' plans for magnificent desserts.
Game Day Party
The chefs take on a football-themed competition, aiming to create elevated game day food in every course. Creative reinterpretations of mac and cheese add a comfort food spin to the appetizer round. Artichokes prove to be a difficult ingredient for some of the competitors in the entree round. And will a stadium starch in the dessert basket help or hurt the final chefs' chances of finishing strong with their football feasts?
Million-Dollar Meals
Four competitors learn they will be treated to high-end, top-dollar ingredients and will be cooking for new judge Martha Stewart. A prized pork product and a spruced-up baked good are some of the wonders that the chefs discover in the first basket. In the entree round, an extraordinary burger and a fancy adult beverage are part of the basket riddle. Finally, an unusual chocolate treat and a special cake up the "wow" factor in the dessert round.
Cocktail Party
Shaken, stirred, or Chopped? Cheers to a fabulous first: a Chopped cocktail party! The chefs learn that they'll be preparing small plates as well as creative drinks in every round of this special competition. Tiny, lovely finger limes must end up on the plates or in the cocktails in round one. Scotch whisky and summer truffles keep the party going in the second round, then edible gold in the final basket guarantees the chefs will end on a festive note.
Holly Jolly Grandmas
Four grandmas bring their homey cooking styles to the Chopped Kitchen and give the judges a holiday dining experience to remember. In the first round, the matriarchs cook appetizers with love, care and some unusual candy canes. A gilded surprise is the centerpiece of the second basket. Finally, the two grandmas who move on to the dessert round are delighted to find a selection of holiday cookies -- but will they know what to make with them?
Casino Royale XL: Battle One
Bet big, win big! Doubling down on culinary gambling thrills, Chopped hosts a second Casino Royale tournament with even more ways for the chefs to take their fate into their own hands. The competitors don't have to keep the basket they've been dealt, and they can take a risk on an unknown replacement ingredient. In this preliminary battle, the chefs open their first baskets to find some cookies that look good, but not as part of an appetizer. In the entrée basket, it seems like a no-brainer to ditch a particularly strange ingredient, so everyone is shocked when one chef stubbornly decides to keep it. In the dessert round, a wild turn of events leaves one competitor with an ingredient that nobody saw coming.
Casino Royale XL: Battle Two
Don't like a basket ingredient? Gamble it away! Life is good at Chopped's Casino Royale until your luck runs out! Four more culinary gamblers have high hopes as they arrive for this preliminary battle of an extraordinary tournament event. Before the appetizer round, the chefs unanimously agree that a certain basket item is the pits and needs to go. In the entrée round, a strange cotton candy creation seems like an obvious clunker. The dessert round brings trouble and two very different experiences as one chef works frantically while the other seems much more relaxed. The winner moves on to the finale with their sights set on the $25,000 jackpot!
Casino Royale XL: Battle Three
Four new bold chefs compete in a preliminary battle of Chopped's Casino Royale, where competitors are permitted to gamble ingredients away if they don't like them. In the first basket, something super-sweet seems super problematic, so more than one chef decides to ditch it. Once the cooking gets started, some of the chefs find it difficult to stay focused while the clock ticks down. The chefs open the entrée basket to find a cured piece of seafood that doesn't seem like a piece of cake. When two passionate chefs make it to the third round, their fate in the casino has major ramifications in their desserts.
Casino Royale XL: Battle Four
The chefs take control of the game in Chopped's Casino Royale. With a spot in the tournament's grand finale at stake, the four chefs in this preliminary battle open their first basket to find something called "goat water." Then, a squirmy sea creature in the second basket doesn't seem like a keeper, but a risky switch could land something even worse. In the dessert round, an unpredictable moment leaves one chef awestruck, but it's anybody's guess how the competition will shake out after the last dishes are served. The winner moves on to the finale, where the jackpot starts at $25,000.
Casino Royale XL: Grand Finale
The Casino Royale champions are back, and they're chasing a jackpot that starts at $25,000! The champs open up the final appetizer basket and come eye-to-eye with a shocking ingredient. Then, only one chef chooses to gamble away their finale entrée basket and are forced to deal with the consequences. Champagne in the dessert basket foreshadows the celebration that lies ahead for one of the competitors. With life-changing money on the line, every move matters and every mistake could mean the difference between becoming the grand champion or leaving as the runner-up.
Holiday Sweethearts
Four Chopped judges compete alongside their significant others in a festive, feisty battle between friends. As the teams endeavor to create appetizers quickly and cooperatively, they must figure out how to use novelty pasta and a splendid fruit in their plates. The entree basket contains a stunning protein and a sweet seasonal surprise, and gingerbread and olives are an odd couple in the holiday dessert basket.
Holiday Sweethearts
Four Chopped judges compete alongside their significant others in a festive, feisty battle between friends. As the teams endeavor to create appetizers quickly and cooperatively, they must figure out how to use novelty pasta and a splendid fruit in their plates. The entree basket contains a stunning protein and a sweet seasonal surprise, and gingerbread and olives are an odd couple in the holiday dessert basket.
Casino Royale XL: Grand Finale
The Casino Royale champions are back, and they're chasing a jackpot that starts at $25,000! The champs open up the final appetizer basket and come eye-to-eye with a shocking ingredient. Then, only one chef chooses to gamble away their finale entrée basket and are forced to deal with the consequences. Champagne in the dessert basket foreshadows the celebration that lies ahead for one of the competitors. With life-changing money on the line, every move matters and every mistake could mean the difference between becoming the grand champion or leaving as the runner-up.
Brunch Brilliance
The chefs set out to wow the judges with brunch meals that wake their palates. A classic brunch combination-turned ice cream flavor makes for a challenging first basket. A unique take on eggs keeps the brunch theme front-and-center in the entree round. The two chefs remaining in the dessert round then get to find out what goes into boozy cereal.
Jarring Jars
The four competing chefs are surprised to open their baskets in the appetizer round to find a large, imposing cut of beef. Unusual cupcakes and a curious jarred "candy" are two of the mystery ingredients in round two. When the final two chefs feast their eyes on a jar of pigs' lips in the dessert basket, they struggle to face the challenge gracefully and successfully.
Dine on a Dime
The four competing chefs get budget baskets full of low-cost ingredients for every round, and they have to make basic foods burst with flavor. A box of fish sticks is the big catch in the first basket, and the second round involves a lesson in putting your best foot forward when cooking with chicken feet. Finally, cheap wine and a cake mix mingle in the last budget basket.
Pasta, Pasta, Pasta
Four chefs who are passionate about pasta are ready to show the judges what they've got! The appetizer basket seems like a gift, but ambitious plans leave some of the competitors racing the clock. In round two, the chefs hurry to make spectacular pasta plates that must include a succulent seafood and a strange sweet. Then, the last two chefs bring a ton of heart to the final round, and the judges are eager to try desserts made with cookies and coffee.
More Cheese, Please!
Please, pile on the cheese! The chefs find cheese in every basket and have to make it the star of every plate. They impress the judges with their talent and speed in the appetizer round, raising expectations for the courses to come, and a wild comfort food hybrid proves challenging in round two. The final two chefs take some risks in the dessert round, but will their sweetly cheesy desserts come together in time?
