The WORST episodes of Chopped
Every episode of Chopped ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Chopped!
Hosted by Ted Allen, Chopped is a high energy, fast paced cooking competition that challenges four up-and-coming chefs to turn a selection of everyday ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. After each course, a contestant gets "chopped" by our panel of esteemed culinary luminaries until the last man or woman left standing claims victory.
#1 - In the Fans' Hands
Season 51 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/29/2022
The chefs are scared when they find out that the ingredients for their battle were chosen by fans via social media; an alarming sandwich appears in the first basket, and a gag-inducing soda is a frightening find in the dessert basket.
#2 - Chocolate Frenzy
Season 51 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/22/2022
For the love of chocolate! In this battle, the chefs are blessed with an abundance of the so-called food of the gods. In the first round, the competitors attempt to make duck and chocolate fly. Faux deviled eggs are a sweet trick in the entree basket, and by the time the dessert round is done, it might be natural to ask if there's such a thing as too much chocolate. Not for the winner of this chocolate challenge!
#3 - Playing with Fire: Finale
Season 50 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/7/2021
In this fiery tournament finale, four winners return with their sights set on taking the title of Chopped Grand Champion. The baskets contain ingredients reminiscent of the preliminary battle themes: wild game, steaks, surf and turf and pork. The appetizer round has the chefs working with a meat not found in the grocery store. A bucket of something frozen is part of the entree basket puzzle, and the two finalists who make it to the dessert round endeavor to give it their all with corn on the cob and an unconventional cheesecake. Only one chef can score the life-changing grand prize and walk away knowing they triumphed while 15 other skilled chefs went down in flames.
#4 - Playing with Fire: Surf and Turf
Season 50 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/31/2021
Four talented chefs push themselves to the limit in order to impress the judges and win a spot in the $25,000 live-fire tournament finale. They must make flame-kissed dishes that celebrate the treasures of both land and sea, and the judges want to see them modernize an old concept. In the first basket, strange sushi requires raw talent, and a bowl of cheese could be an unwelcome addition to the entree basket. The two finalists discover what's lurking inside the surf-and-turf dessert basket.
#5 - Playing with Fire: Wild Things
Season 50 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/10/2021
In a live-fire Chopped tournament to show what hot ideas, techniques and flavors chefs bring to the table, the competitors take a walk on the wild side with wild game in every basket. In the appetizer basket, a crispy Korean snack food is a creepy-crawly shocker. The judges wonder what to expect when they chomp down on alligator entrees, and in the dessert round, the two chefs left fighting for a spot in the finale wrestle with a basket that includes wild sandwiches and daring dairy.
#6 - Chef's Best Friend
Season 50 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/27/2021
It's a doggone Chopped event! In addition to competing with appetizers, entrees and desserts, dog-loving chefs make treats for a canine judge! Things could get "ruff" if the golden retriever with the golden palate turns up its nose at their hard work. The chefs are literally thrown a bone in the first basket, and a dog-friendly beverage and a pasta dish must be combined in the second round. The dessert round finds the competitors figuring out what to do with bananas and a certain nose-to-tail treasure before this Chopped dog show reaches its exciting conclusion.
#7 - Million-Dollar Meals
Season 37 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/5/2018
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.
#8 - You've Been Canned
Season 36 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/10/2018
The judges are excited by the prospect of beautiful octopus appetizers in the first round as the four chefs scramble to create dishes featuring mollusk morsels. The canned product in the second round threatens to throw the competitors off their game and leaves one chef in an unusual predicament. The two remaining chefs choose the same format for their Gorgonzola dolce desserts in the final round, leaving the judges to thoroughly compare the two dishes.
#9 - Fat Chance
Season 36 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/27/2018
The appetizer round prompts a couple of critical questions -- namely, what in the world is a narutomaki, and what are you supposed to do with it? The judges are astonished when one of the chefs takes an extremely unusual approach with the fish from the entree basket that also includes caul fat. Finally, the last two chefs attempt to make scrumptious dishes in the dessert round with Swedish syrup and a classic cookie.
#10 - Ready, Set, Escargot!
Season 11 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/10/2012
Snails are the first order of business in the Chopped kitchen. Can the competitors make escargot go with red jalapenos? A mishap with a paper towel leads to a dangerous situation at one chef's station. With Chinese eggplant and ground lamb in the entree basket, three chefs all choose a similar direction for their dishes. Then two very driven finalists compete to make great desserts from garnet yams and roasted noodles.
#11 - Bird in the Pan
Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/27/2012
In the appetizer round, three out of the four chefs make a similar choice with a tricky basket ingredient: Will the fourth chef's different approach work in his favor? Then for the entrees, the competitors attempt to make delicious Cornish hen dishes, knowing that a nicely cooked bird in the pan could be worth a trip to the final round. And in the dessert round, neither the judges nor the chefs have any idea what to expect on the plates after a wild fiasco with the ice cream machine.
#13 - Good Chop, Bad Chop
Season 11 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/21/2012
With canned spiced ham in the first basket the chefs must stay determined if they want to elevate their dishes. Lake perch is the catch of the entree round. What will the judges think of one chef's unorthodox decision with the avocados? A French bakery staple makes for a buttery surprise in the final basket.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#14 - Chopped Champs Throwdown: Battle 4
Season 39 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/30/2018
Four returning Chopped champions compete for a chance to make it to the grand finale to fight for $50,000. In the first round, the chefs contend with a basket that includes tiny, infuriatingly time-consuming eggs and a Moroccan meat. Red snapper in the entree basket must be filleted in a snap, and pastries and pops in the dessert basket challenge the two remaining competitors.
#15 - Yuzu Never Know
Season 11 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/1/2012
Does yuzu juice go with sturgeon? That's part of the first-round riddle that the competitors face. One chef's recollection of what he did with a mystery ingredient comes into question when facing the judges. In the second round, something orange and something green color the chefs' choices. And the two finalists find a spicy surprise in the dessert basket.
#16 - In Cod We Trust?
Season 63 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/19/2025
The judges are eager to taste the chefs' cod filet appetizers, but the super-short first round proves to be a challenge for some of the competitors. Cottage cheese and an unusual Chinese snack food are two of the ingredients that the chefs must incorporate into their entrée plates. Then, a colorful cake and a fruity sauce must find their way into the finalists' desserts.
#17 - Chopped Family Feud
Season 16 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/11/2013
In a Chopped first, two pairs of brothers compete to see which chef family prevails. In the first round, the competitors must come up with oodles of ideas for falooda noodles. In the entree down, the judges watch eagerly to see how the three plates of steak and cinnamon rolls will turn out. With family pride and bragging rights looming large, the last two chefs must make desserts from a Greek pudding and a Japanese candy.
#18 - Plenty of Fish
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/16/2012
In the first round, the chefs do their best to delicately cook a familiar fish, as they struggle to decide what to do with a tiny, Indian gourd. A smelly fish product in the second basket leaves the competitors taking risks with lutefisk that they hope will pay off. Then the two remaining chefs hustle to put together their final dishes, but can they create genuine desserts out of Chinese sausage and baby eggplants?
#19 - Wasted!
Season 17 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/13/2013
In this competition, the baskets are full of usually-discarded food scraps. In the first round the chefs must contend with herb stems and what is left of a filleted fish. Then the competitors open the baskets to find eyes on potatoes looking back at them. And the two chefs left in the dessert round must make yummy sweets from the least desirable part of the bread and the least juicy part of the orange.
#20 - My Way
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/9/2011
Time starts now! In the first round the chefs try to figure out how to make a pretty fruit work with two different seafood ingredients. And the judges wonder how the chefs' unique experiences will come into play. Then, time is not on the competitors' side in the entrée round. Two competitors are unhappy that they undercooked one of the mystery ingredients, while the other chef says it was a deliberate choice to have undercooked a second basket item. And in the dessert round, a Chopped first: soup in the mystery basket! There is no way to make borscht desserts boring. But will they be good?
#21 - Chewing the Caul Fat
Season 11 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/14/2012
As the clock ticks down on the first round, one chef gets into a pickle with the pickle juice. Then in the entrée round the chefs must figure out something savvy to do with Savoy cabbage and a curious web of fat. And a very competitive final round - featuring edible flowers - results in a daring dash for the ice cream machine.
#22 - Own It!
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/17/2012
Four chef/entrepreneurs have something to prove in the Chopped kitchen. In the first round, will their hearts sink when they see hearts of palm and rabbit escabeche in the basket? And a curious ingredient substitution leaves the judges perplexed. Then three chefs fight to make goat chops a great main dish ... or risk being chopped. And it's crunch time for two finalists, when they must make dessert using blue corn tortilla chips.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#23 - Double-Edged Swordfish
Season 57 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/23/2024
Great minds, limited time! The ingredients in the first basket inspire all the chefs to use the deep fryer, resulting in a kitchen traffic jam. In the second round, the judges are hoping for tender, juicy swordfish steaks, but not all of the chefs appear to be nailing the assignment. Then in the third round, an unusual cheese product prompts one of the chefs to attempt a cheesecake.
#24 - Grill Masters: Memphis
Season 38 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/14/2018
Four chefs who live and breathe Memphis-style barbecue compete for a coveted spot in the $50,000 Grill Masters grand finale, facing off against champions from Texas, North Carolina and Kansas City. Tennessee tradition abounds in the first basket, which includes a creative take on a messy, shareable comfort food, and the chefs are stunned to see a gigantic sandwich in the second basket. Peaches in the dessert basket seem like a gift, but will the last two Memphis-style chefs be able to make them shine on their plates?
#25 - Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Lobster!
Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/6/2011
It's holiday time on Chopped! The competitors are challenged to stay in the spirit of the season throughout the meal. In the appetizer round the chefs, not-so-gingerly, take down some gingerbread houses. And adrenaline runs so high that one chef does not realize that something has gone very wrong with his dish until it is too late. Then in the entrée round, a prized piece of meat and a beautiful vegetable have the makings of a great main dish, but a sweet surprise in the basket may present "ye old yuletide" pitfall for the chefs. And when the finalists find an often-disparaged holiday classic in the dessert basket, who will be able to elevate the ingredient and be on their merry way with $10,000?