Top Chef poster

TV series

Top Chef

2006TV-1423 seasons6.9 / 10

An American reality competition show in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges and are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode.

Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Sep 2, 2026

Top Chef is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Peacock, Peacock Premium, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube TV, and Fubo in United States. You can also buy it from Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.

Availability and prices can change. Confirm the details on the streaming service before you subscribe, rent or buy.

Synopsis

An American reality competition show in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges and are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode.

Season 9 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

← Season 8

Episode 1

Everything's Bigger in Texas

42m

29 chefs gather at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, to compete for 16 slots in the 9th season of Top Chef. Tonight they are divided into three groups and must master their challenge to move forward. Some will know their fate immediately and receive a chef coat or be sent home. Others will be on the "bubble" and must compete and be judged again before they know their fates. Yes, it's bigger in Texas, but it's also hotter and harder, too. Group 1 Qualifying Challenge: Prepare a Dish Using One Cut of a Pig Group 2 Qualifying Challenge: Prepare a Dish Using the Same Ingredient

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 2

The Heat Is On

42m

Night two of heats for the coveted contestant spots starts with 10 competitors, 10 ingredients, and only five chef coats left. Once again, those who excel in the challenge get a coat immediately, and those who bomb are sent home. The remaining hopefuls on the "bubble" participate in a cook-off for the last coats against last week's four still waiting for their second chance. Also, tonight the first chefs are awarded an opportunity to get back into the race when they are sent to the sister series Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 3

Quinceanera

42m

The chefs are asked to create a dish using rattlesnakes. Later they cater a girl's quinceañera celebration.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 4

Red Hot Chili Cook Off

42m

The contestants provide food for the local rodeo and its audience.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 5

Don't Be Tardy for the Dinner Party

42m

The chefs must create a dish using what they can find in a standard survival kit, then they have to shift gears and cater dinner to high society.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 6

Higher Steaks

42m

The contestants prepare steak for some of Texas' most discerning palates, at least beef-wise, the attendees of the Cattle Baron's Ball.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 7

Game On

42m

The contestants must cook for an all-star table of chefs whose avocation is hunting.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 8

Tribute Dinner

42m

The chefs must adapt quickly when their cooking mashes up with social networking and they begin receiving dish notes via Twitter. Later, they will each be able to pay homage to an influential teacher when they are asked to create dishes in the teachers' honor.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 9

BBQ Pit Wars

42m

The chefs combine learning with cooking tonight when they use Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine to influence their Quickfire dishes. Next, they team up for a barbecue cook-off where the diners determine the winning team.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 10

Restaurant Wars

42m

The still-standing chefs sharpen their knives for the time-honored fan-favorite "Restaurant Wars" test. The all-encompassing culinary challenge tasks them to create an eatery, from its signage and logos to its menus and meals. The chefs prepare their dishes as quick as they can but the servers are having problems understanding where they need to go.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 11

Fit For an Evil Queen

42m

The Quickfire is on the move, except it's the ingredients that are moving—by train. Next, the chefs must access the darkness inside of them when they are asked to create "evil" on a plate.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 12

Block Party

42m

The chefs race against time to finish prep work for a meal. Later, they serve up cuisine at a food-drive block party. Guest judge: Cat Cora.

Episode credits

Guest stars Cat Cora

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 13

Bike, Borrow & Steal

42m

In this week’s Quickfire, Pee-wee Herman stops by and the chefs are tasked to create his favorite breakfast dish – pancakes! But this isn’t any old pancake. The Chefs are challenged to be as creative as possible when making their batter, toppings and presentation. In "Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” Pee-wee learned a lot about searching the streets and asking for help. For the elimination challenge, the chefs are set loose in downtown San Antonio with a bike and $100, where they must find their ingredients and create a dish for Pee-wee’s dinner party. Pee-wee Herman joins Gail Simmons, head judge Tom Colicchio, and host Padma Lakshmi at judges’ table.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 14

Mentors

42m

In this week’s Quickfire, the chefs must use their sense of touch, smell and taste to navigate through the pantry to gather ingredients for a dish while blindfolded. In a twist, the winning chef from Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen will re-enter the competition and join the remaining four chefs in the elimination challenge, where the chefs must create a delicious dish that will impress their mentors. Host Padma Lakshmi, along with Hugh Acheson, Gail Simmons and head judge Tom Colicchio will determine which final four chefs will advance to the finale.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 15

Culinary Games

42m

The final 4 chefs arrive in Whistler, British Columbia, for a Top Chef twist on the Olympic games. From cooking on the world’s fastest gondola to a biathlon that requires marksman like precision to get the best ingredients, the chefs will need to have the concentration of a true culinary Olympian to advance to the next round in Vancouver.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 16

Fire and Ice

42m

Asian Masters lend a hand in a tag-team-style Quickfire. The final 3 chefs must create a dish and cocktail that fuses the concept of fire and ice into one cohesive dish, a culinary testament of their journey from blazing Texas heat to blistering Vancouver cold.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode 17

Finale

42m

For the final challenge, each chef will take over a restaurant in Vancouver where they will have the chance to design a four-course meal for the judges and unbeknownst to them, friends and family.

Where to watch Top Chef

Episode information updated Sep 20, 2026

More about Top Chef

Cast

Hugh AchesonSelf - Judge
Tom ColicchioSelf - Head Judge
Padma LakshmiSelf - Host
Gail SimmonsSelf - Judge
Toby YoungSelf - Judge
Brian MalarkeySelf - Contestant
Marcel VigneronSelf - Contestant
Shirley ChungSelf - Contestant

Credits

Created by
Lauren Zalaznick

Production details

Status
Returning Series
Series type
Reality
Episodes
342
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • BravoUnited States
  • Magical ElvesUnited States

Themes

competitivecooking competition