The WORST episodes of MasterChef (US)
Every episode of MasterChef (US) ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of MasterChef (US)!
Award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, acclaimed chef Aarón Sánchez and renowned restaurateur Joe Bastianich put a new batch of talented home cooks through a series of challenges and elimination rounds.
#2 - World Cup Cookoff
Season 16 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/3/2026
The MasterChef kitchen is transformed into a backyard barbeque. Trading in their aprons for jerseys, the home cooks must step up and prove that they can take their country's game time cravings to the next level. In a challenge channeling family, culture, and pride, the stakes have never been higher.
#4 - Grand Finale (1)
Season 15 - Episode 17 - Aired 9/17/2025
The top three duos compete to take home a quarter of a million dollars, the trophy and the first-ever title of "America's MasterChefs."
#5 - Recipe Telephone
Season 15 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/16/2025
In a MasterChef first, the Top 9 duos face a brand-new challenge of 'Recipe Telephone'. In a culinary relay, each duo is split up: one teammate begins cooking while the other waits in a separate room. Halfway through the challenge, the duo's swap places, and the second teammate must complete the dish. It's a high-stake, high-pressure challenge that tests just how well each duo really knows each other. Teamwork and intuition will need to be enough for the duos to plate a winning dish.
#6 - From Train to Table
Season 15 - Episode 9 - Aired 7/23/2025
The Top 8 duos are halfway through the competition and the challenges are getting tougher by the week. Today, the duos face another intimidating team challenge outside of the MasterChef kitchen. This time, two teams must prepare a VIP dining experience aboard a moving steam train. It's a race against the clock and an intense test of the duo's teamwork, to see which partners can keep from running off the rails. The team with the fewest votes from the diners will face elimination in the dreaded Pressure Test.
#8 - Let the Battle Commence: Top 40
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/20/2015
Forty of the best home cooks in America travel to Los Angeles to present their signature dishes to the distinguished judging panel: Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and new judge Christina Tosi.
#10 - Bring Home the Bacon
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/24/2015
In the next challenge, it's proven that Breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day when the home cooks are each tasked to create an elevated breakfast dish in 45 minutes. Not only does the winner have immunity in the next mystery box challenge, but they also receive two additional advantages. Later, in the mystery box challenge, contestants must create TV dinners.
#12 - Team Pitch to Plate
Season 16 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/27/2026
In the season's first team challenge, chefs compete to see who will make the starting lineup, trading in their mystery ingredients for a chance to score big. This massive mission brings the FIFA World Cup 2026TM to the Masterchef kitchen as the cooks team up with the U.S. Soccer Federation to serve lunch to 101 hungry kids coming straight off the field. With a special guest judge and Gordon Ramsay as the honorary goalkeeper, the heat is on and only one team will walk away with the immunity pin.
#13 - Home State Heroes
Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/6/2018
In the first mystery box challenge of the season, the Top 24 must prep, cook, and plate one dish featuring an ingredient unique to each of their home states.
#14 - Happy Birthday MasterChef
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/1/2015
Each team prepares a two-course menu for the 100th episode celebration, during which VIP guests dine on oyster and caviar appetizers and a duck breast entrée, followed by a special surprise dish by judge Christina Tosi. The losing team faces the next pressure test, in which contestants must create a three-layer birthday cake.
#15 - Bittersweet Mystery Box
Season 16 - Episode 9 - Aired 7/15/2026
Tonight, using their second Mystery Box of the season, the Top Sixteen home cooks create chocolate confections inspired by their heritage. With a double elimination looming, the competition has never been sweeter -- or more intense.
#17 - Auditions: Europe (1)
Season 16 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/15/2026
MasterChef returns with an all-new global twist in "Masterchef: Global Gauntlet!" America's greatest home cooks step into the kitchen to represent their ethnic roots in hopes of becoming America's Next MasterChefs. In the spirit of the World Cup coming to America this summer, the competition brings the homecooks representing four worldwide regions to the MasterChef kitchen, where heritage, heart, and high stakes collide. Tonight, the spotlight is on Europe, as flavors and traditions from across the continent take center stage. Judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich, and Tiffany Derry continue their search for the best home cooks in America as contestants battle for coveted white aprons.
#18 - Backyard BBQ
Season 15 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/13/2025
The MasterChef garden is decked out for a sunny backyard BBQ and the Top 6 duos feel the burn. Split into two teams, they must serve a garden full of BBQ aficionados. The losing team will go straight into a pressure test, where one couple will be eliminated.
#19 - The Audition Battles
Season 15 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/21/2025
Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich welcome new judge, award-winning chef Tiffany Derry, as they embark on their search for America’s best home cook duos. And it all starts with Audition Battles, as eight pairs of home cooks go head-to-head fighting to win legendary white aprons.
#21 - Family Reunion
Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 7/29/2015
The Top 10 home cooks cook family style when they face their next team challenge and create family style meals for VIP diners. After each team prepares their family style meals, they are greeted by the dinner guests, their family members. Each diner votes for one team's meal and the team with the most votes is safe from the next pressure test. In the pressure test, the losing team home cooks must create a gnocchi-in-brown-sage-butter-sauce dish.
#22 - Getting A-Head in the Competition
Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/12/2015
In the next team challenge, the remaining home cooks split into teams to prepare vegetarian meals for guests of the MasterChef restaurant. Teams have access to any ingredients that they choose in the MasterChef pantry, as long as the dishes are vegetarian. The winning team is safe from elimination, while the losing team must cook in the next pressure test and create delicious well-composed meals using various cuts from an animal head.
#24 - Auditions: Americas (4)
Season 16 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/6/2026
It’s the last round of auditions, and home cooks from the Americas vie for a chance to earn a white apron. Tonight’s auditions are packed with big personalities and one-of-a-kind dishes. Only five will walk away with a white apron and the opportunity to represent the Americas.
