Viewers all across the world seem to love a good cooking competition show, with many of the most exciting ones featuring respected celebrity chefs. Watching aspiring cooks demonstrate their creativity and impressive skills in the kitchen is an entertaining experience for audiences, making the genre one of the most watched and revered on television. Not only are fantastic and tasty-looking dishes on full display on these competitive programs, but fans are able to connect with the ambitious hopefuls as they strive to make their dreams come true. Countless famous faces have headlined cooking shows, most notably Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, and Food Network’s Guy Fieri mentoring and guiding the new generation of chefs.
Gordon Ramsay has created quite the impressive cooking competition show repertoire, serving as the spokesman and driving force behind popular programs like Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef and his most recent endeavor Next Level Chef. His passionate and hot-headed approach to judging and overseeing up-and-coming chefs has garnered widespread attention, with his antics amusing fans of the TV genre. From preparing delicious BBQ meals to battling it out against respected culinary figures, there is no shortage of thrilling food competition series. These are some of the best cooking competition shows.
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8 The American Barbecue Showdown
Netflix
The Netflix original series The American Barbecue Showdown is a reality cooking competition that follows eight contestants from across the country as they put their barbecuing skills to the test. The cooks will have to tackle a variety of fun challenges involving the preparation of meals in various BBQ styles. Hosted by Rutledge Wood and Lyric Lewis with chefs Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston serving as the judges, the program showcases the contestants as they demonstrate the different aspects of barbecuing, such as grilling and smoking techniques, while being thrown curve balls that require them to think on their feet.
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The American Barbecue Showdown was a hit for the streamer, being renewed in 2021 and set to serve up a second season soon; in their review, Decider commented: “The contestants on The American Barbecue Showdown are fun to watch and it seems like they’re all great at what they do. But it’s going to be the food that’s the determining factor, and after one episode, so far, so good.”
7 Guy’s Grocery Games
Food Network
The charming, much-maligned, spiky-haired restaurateur with a massive Food Network deal, Guy Fieri hosts the popular cooking game show Guy’s Grocery Games. The Food Network series features four talented chefs competing in three various challenges and eliminations, using supermarket ingredients in unique tests; their dishes are then judged by three chefs, many of whom had appeared on Fieri’s Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives.
6 Next Level Chef
Fox
Produced and presented by renowned chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay, the 2022 Fox series Next Level Chef chronicles the efforts of cooks from all different backgrounds (line chefs, food truck owners, private chefs, etc.) as they are tasked with diverse cooking challenges in three vastly disparate, stacked kitchens: the top is equipped with modern equipment, the middle a standard commercial kitchen and the bottom a limited assortment of lower-quality tools. Joined by chefs Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais, Ramsay and his fellow judges mentor a group of promising food innovators in hopes of finding the culinary world’s newest superstar. The winner of the competition not only receives a $250,000 prize, but also the prestigious gift of having a one-year mentorship under the three outstanding chefs.
5 Chopped
Food Network’s long-running American-Italian reality cooking competition Chopped features four chefs as they attempt to incorporate odd ingredients into their dishes; the contestants are given a basket containing the mystery contents for each round, frequently creating an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Since the launch of the series in 2009, Ted Allen has served as host and a wide array of some of the most revered chefs have appeared as judges, such as Alex Guarnaschelli, Aarón Sánchez and Geoffrey Zakarian. Chopped has gone on to produce 50 seasons and counting, as well as inspiring numerous spin-offs and specials like Chopped: Sweets, Chopped Champions and Chopped Grill Masters. In 2012, the program was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.
4 Iron Chef and Iron Chef America
Based on the legendary Fuji Television show Iron Chef, Food Network’s culinary game show Iron Chef America showcases the cooking battle between a new chef who competes against one of the esteemed cooks identified as “Iron Chefs” with a challenge involving secret ingredients and themes. With legendary culinary geniuses like Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, and Bobby Flay demonstrating their impeccable skills, the program is a fun take on the traditional cooking competition format as audiences get to witness kitchen magic by their favorite cooks.
The original Iron Chef is generally considered one of the most influential cooking shows of all time, and managed to pack in an astounding 295 official episodes across only seven seasons, not including specials. Iron Chef America went on to have an impressive run of its own, with 13 seasons and over 200 episodes, and actually served as the second United States installment of the popular Japanese show, with a failed version entitled Iron Chef USA having been released in 2001 to a lackluster response.
3 MasterChef Junior
Fox Broadcasting Company
Centering on a group of aspiring young chefs ranging from the ages of 8-13 years old, the Fox cooking competition show MasterChef Junior gives some of the country’s youngest and brightest minds a chance to create and present impressive dishes to a panel of renowned chef judges. Gordon Ramsey produced and has appeared in every season of the program, being joined by fellow chefs like Christina Tosi, Aarón Sánchez and Daphne Oz, with the winner of each installment being awarded $100,000. When the show was first in development back in 2013, there were concerns that Ramsay’s frequent swearing at contestants would appear on MasterChef Junior, but the fiery and passionate chef kept his words in check and his cursing has never been an issue on the uplifting program, which actually shows a kinder, compassionate side of the chef that audiences have grown to love.
2 MasterChef
Photo Credit - One Potato Two Potato, Reveille Productions, Shine America, Endemol Shine North America
Adapted from the British series of the same name, the critically-acclaimed competitive cooking series MasterChef conducts a nationwide search for some of the best and most innovative amateur and home chefs, with their skills tested through various challenges like the Skills Test, Pressure Test and Mystery Box; the latter is a fan-favorite that tasks the cooks with utilizing the same secret ingredients and creating a unique dish within a fixed amount of time.
Once again featuring Gordon Ramsay as the program’s resident judge in addition to other celebrity chefs, MasterChef awards the winner $250,000 and has been going strong for 12 seasons since its 2010 debut with its newest season subtitled Back to Win premiering on May 25, 2022.
1 Hell’s Kitchen
ITV Studios Global Entertainment
Created and presented by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, Fox’s long-running reality culinary show Hell’s Kitchen centers on two teams of aspiring chefs who are put through intense cooking challenges while working in the kitchen at the esteemed titular restaurant, completing dinner services while under the watchful eye of Ramsay. The winner of the program is the recipient of a cash prize of $250,000 and is given the opportunity to work as the head chef at one of Ramsay’s restaurants, with many of the champions going on to establish themselves as successful figures in the culinary industry.
The ambitious cooks are also helped by past Hell’s Kitchen competitors and winners, with Season 10 winner Christina Wilson and Season 7 runner-up Jay Santos serving as the opposing teams’ sous chefs. The show has gained a reputation for the colorful cursing and short temper of Ramsay, resulting in a slew of hilarious and memorable moments throughout its run.
