Season 12

June 19, 2012

It's a chocolate lover's dream competition: Chocolate in every course! Will the chefs take well to this sweet challenge? The appetizer round is a heart-stopping affair with a romantic gift as the centerpiece of the basket. The three chefs who advance to cook the second course have a love/hate response to the thematic ingredient. And when the chefs are given a molded chocolate novelty item in the dessert round, they battle to prove who can finish strong.

June 26, 2012

Four chefs from the Big Easy take on the big challenge of excelling in the Chopped Kitchen. In the first basket, half of the ingredients are very familiar, while the other mystery items just might throw the competitors off their game. In the entree round, the chefs make some very original choices with chai tea powder, and a judge makes a very surprising discovery on one of the plates. When both finalists take similar approaches to the dessert course, whose dish will the judges prefer?

July 3, 2012

It's a special all-American Chopped! Fierce competition is a matter of national and personal pride, as four chefs face off to see who will be the champ. From apple pie in the appetizer basket to bourbon for dessert, the patriotic theme makes for some yummy, original dishes. And 10,000 American dollars will go to the one chef who bests the others.

July 17, 2012

Three of the chefs go in a very similar direction with the first course, and yet the judges find creativity in the variety of flavors in their seafood sausage appetizers. In the entree round, the chefs must integrate tiny pasta and a powerful liqueur into their dishes. In the dessert round, when one competitor's plans fall apart, will there be enough time to redirect?

July 31, 2012

When the chefs confront the first basket, their degrees of expertise with tuna belly come into play. Lamb top round is round two's mystery protein, and it's a mystery whose dish the judge like least, until the cloche is lifted. With cayenne pepper and canned pumpkin desserts in the works, one chef has some serious difficulties and races to get everything onto the plate.

August 7, 2012

The chefs find carrot cake in the first basket, along with an unusual seafood product: Will they be able to pull together cohesive appetizers? In the entree round, the competitors take three different approaches with a familiar protein, but the judges are disappointed by the chefs' scant usage of a prized ingredient. Pop goes the dessert round, with caramel corn in the basket.

August 14, 2012

The judges are pleased to see duck confit in the first basket. But when it comes time to taste, they're disappointed that they must consider a competitor's very minimal use of one of the other ingredients. Then in the entree round, a jar of peanut butter and a can of shrimp are two of the puzzling items that the chefs discover in the baskets. As the competition wraps up, will wonton wrappers and grape jelly beans stump the finalists?

August 21, 2012

When the first basket contains licorice, licking the competition on creativity becomes the chefs' main challenge in the appetizer round. The competitors get a jolt of energy in the form of espresso powder, which they must match with flank steak for their entree dish. When it becomes clear that neither finalist's polenta and sherry dessert is a sure thing, who will become the Chopped Champion?

September 11, 2012

A pink candy surprise in the appetizer basket prompts the chefs to make some very creative choices. Then in the entree round, the chefs have to hop to it with a chocolate bunny and an imposing cut of meat as ingredients. A sweet baked good seems like a good start for some delicious desserts, but will the chefs' final dishes be inventive enough to impress the judges?

October 9, 2012

With pluck aplenty, four chefs charge into the competition. But will spaghetti in a can spell trouble for them in the first round? In the entree course, everybody raids the pantry for potatoes that they think will complement the tile fish from the basket. A very tough final basket, which includes cocktail franks, has the two final chefs puzzled. Can they come up with creative, delicious desserts?

November 20, 2012

Ostrich tenderloin appetizers are on the menu for the judges after a dramatic first round of cooking. And then, for creativity's sake, the chefs must work hard to make terrific entrees with sable fish and sake. When one of the final competitors uses a rolling pin to compress hot dog buns, the judges wonder what kind of dessert they will get.