Chopped Season 17, Episode 1: Wasted!

Keep on Trucking

Four chefs with connections to the booming truck-food business motor into the Chopped Kitchen. And the first basket with two assertively-flavored meats makes for a challenging appetizer round. In the second round, the competitors must make dishes that include a sugary powder and a leafy vegetable.

Sports Stars

Danica Patrick, Tiki Barber, Chuck Zito and Natalie Coughlin are four athletes who feel right at home in the kitchen battling it out for charity. The judges are presented with four salmon dishes to taste for the first course. In the second round chocolate-covered marshmallows seem to be the most stress-inducing ingredient. And figuring out how to transform olive oil cake is the challenge for dessert.

Hero Chefs

These four extraordinary chefs all serve their communities with their culinary talents. In the first round they must combine chicken soup and barbecue sauce. The second round has the chefs creating scallop dishes with two unusual produce items. And the finalists have to get their buns in gear in the last round, when they are given hamburger buns to cook with. Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/hero-chefs/index.

We Love Leftovers!

All leftovers in the baskets today, and some of the chefs are not happy to hear the news. In the first round the competitors must work with what is left in a casserole dish and at the bottom of a takeout bag. The second round has the chefs wondering what to do with something soggy and something sweet. In the final round — featuring a leftover party beverage — one chef beats the other to the ice cream machine, leaving his competitor scrambling for a new plan.

Count Your Chickens

The chefs get a first basket with two chicken surprises: chicken livers and chicken tenders. The trend continue into the second round, where the chefs must make a delicious entree with chicken legs and chicken-flavored crackers? Then in the dessert round, an often-disparaged dessert must be elevated.

Liver and Learn

The chefs receive calves' livers and ranch dressing in the first round, and the judges watch as four appetizers come together in 20 minutes. Then in the entree round, a small bird and a citrusy spice make for an interesting combination.

Brunch Boxes

The baskets are packed with ingredients from a brunch menu. In a champagne and caviar appetizer round, one chef makes a generous choice. Chefs pair seafood with pancake mix in the entree round.

Circus Spectacular

In this Chopped competition, the baskets are all packed with ingredients you might find on a sophisticated brunch menu. Near the end of a champagne and caviar appetizer round, one chef makes a generous, but potentially costly, choice. How will the chefs pair a seafood extravagance with pancake mix in the entree round? Then turning classic brunch items into dessert is the final, demanding challenge for the last two chefs.

Competition Italiano

Every basket in this competition features circus-themed ingredients. In the first round the chefs have to make cotton candy and corn dogs doggone delicious. Then in the entree round, one competitor decides to put his nachos — cheese and all — into the food processor: Will the judges like the result? And when snow cones and popcorn pop up in the dessert round, what kind of circusy sweetness will end up on the finalists' plates?

Redeemed or Re-Chopped?

Four former runners-up seek redemption; the first round features a faux meat and a hot mustard; sour grapes is an appropriate ingredient in the second basket.

Cloche Call

Two cultures collide in the first round, when the chefs must combine kimchi and gefilte fish. The second round has the chefs working with uniquely flavored vodka and a green snack. And when the two finalists find marshmallow cake and citrusy water in the final basket, the judges hope for delicious desserts.

Celebrity Holiday Bash

Four stars who love to cook compete in the Chopped Kitchen for a favorite charity. The party begins with sparkling cider and doughnuts in the first basket. Wagyu steaks are served up for the entree round. And the final moments of the competition are filled with drama and suspense as the competitors rush to get their plum pudding desserts plated.

60 min