MasterChef Season 5 Episode release dates & where to watch

1. Top 30 Compete

Host award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, along with fellow judges restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot return for Season Five, putting the latest group of contestants through a series of challenging elimination rounds and turning one home cook into a culinary master.

2. Top 22 Compete

The contestants must prepare a unique dish in the first mystery box challenge -- which features ingredients typically used in desserts; in the next round, the contestants prepare a classic American dish.

3. Top 20 Compete

The cooks compete to feed 500 male and female troops on a desert Army base; the losing team faces a pressure test featuring blueberry pie.

4. Top 18 Compete

The contestants tackle a seafood challenge, with the winner choosing what dessert the others will prepare in the elimination round.

5. Top 17 Compete

The contestants prepare a seafood menu for a beachfront wedding; one team faces a challenge featuring a meal with steak and fries.

6. Top 16 Compete

A mystery-box challenge has the Top 16 chefs preparing dishes using canned foods. The winner will work with former "MasterChef" champion Luca Manfe and "MasterChef Junior" winner Alexander Weiss to select a specialty dish for the elimination round.

7. Top 15 Compete

The contestants must put aside their difference as they pair up to create a surf-and-turf dish; the challenge losers face a pressure test featuring spring rolls.

8. Top 14 Compete

The remaining 14 cooks work in two sets of teams at a busy, iconic diner in Los Angeles; the members of the losing team must make a three-layer red velvet cake during a pressure test.

9. Top 13 Compete

The cooks must create a dish using Alaskan king salmon; during the elimination round, the cooks create a dish using one judge's favorite ingredients.

10. Top 12 Compete

The cooks prepare romantic dinners for couples celebrating anniversaries; Ramsay's wife joins him for dinner; the losing team create their own truffle recipes for a box of chocolates.

11. Top 11 Compete

For the first time, the contestants get to choose between two mystery boxes: one filled with high-end ingredients and one containing ordinary items; the winner of the challenge chooses which type of stuffed pasta the remaining cooks make.

12. Top 10 Compete

The home cooks split into two teams and create menus of healthy football game concessions for an entire stadium; the cooks on the losing team must create three unique prawn dishes in a pressure test.

13. Top 8 Compete

The cooks split into teams of two and prepare a poultry dish using different parts of the chicken; two pairs face a pressure test with eggs.

14. Top 7 Compete

The remaining contestants receive hometown encouragement as they prepare savory apple dishes; while the challenge winner is safe from elimination, the other contestants form teams of two and make a variety of potstickers.

15. Top 6 Compete

Ramsay works alongside the cooks as they take over a high-end restaurant in Los Angeles; croquembouche pressure test.

16. Top 5 Compete

Joined by VIP kitchen guests, the cooks prepare dishes inspired by loved ones; the cooks face a challenge involving rare protein dishes.

17. Top 4 Compete

A final team challenge establishes who will move on to the top three.

18. Top 3 Compete

The Top 3 contestants create dishes for a panel of judges from all 50 U.S. states. The winner earns an automatic spot in the Top 2, while the other two chefs face a pressure test involving desserts.

19. Winner Chosen Finale

In the Season 5 finale, the winner is chosen after the Top 2 compete for the trophy, a book deal and a $250,000 grand prize.