Comfort food connoisseurs and gourmands alike know that any dish can benefit from a slice, a melt or a sprinkling of cheese! In this special competition, every basket is filled with cheesy yumminess including an unusual take on a Philadelphia classic in the first round. The chefs must work with a crunchy cringe-worthy surprise in addition to a fancy Spanish cheese in the entree round. And a cheese-tastic tower is one of the building blocks for the finalists' desserts.
Four new All-Stars (Cat Cora, Antonia Lofaso, Michael Psilakis and Marcel Vigneron) strut into the Chopped Kitchen, sights set on the Grand Finale. In the first round, a special Spanish meat must be paired with an airy cookie. The chefs who make it to the second round face a huge ingredient to butcher and some tiny, sour fruits to tame. Flavored water and clarified butter are part of the culinary puzzle that the final two chefs have to solve in their desserts.