Food Recipes 38 'Top Chef' Recipes to Add to Your Rotation Try flavorful, fame-worthy dishes from the stars of your favorite cooking competition show. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 11, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Greg DuPree If you've ever wanted to bring the excitement of Top Chef into your own kitchen, these recipes are a great place to start, with dishes from contestants and judges alike. You can try Season 4 winner (and 2011 F&W Best New Chef) Stephanie Izard's vibrant Seared Tuna Tiradito for a starter, or for dessert, Season 10 winner (and Season 21 host) Kristen Kish's Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches. We also have recipes from Tom Colicchio, Carla Hall, Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons, the Voltaggio brothers, and more contestants. Here's how to cook like a Top Chef contestant or judge at home. 01 of 38 Tahini-Tofu Dip with Chili Crunch Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall Stephanie Izard (Season 4) This creamy, smooth dip from chef Stephanie Izard creates layers of flavor with a short ingredient list. Roasting the garlic mellows its sharpness — together with the tahini, it brings a subtly sweet and nutty taste to the dish. Tamari provides umami, and fresh lemon juice adds brightness and acidity. After everything is combined in a food processor, a generous sprinkle of This Little Goat Chili Crunch finishes the dip off. Make it the next time you're entertaining, or for your next snack dinner. Get the Recipe 02 of 38 Collard and Fennel Salad with Crispy Plantains Oriana Koren Ashleigh Shanti (Season 19) Crispy, creamy smashed and twice-fried plantains act as croutons in this fresh winter salad. The two-step frying process allows the unripe green plantains to evenly cook through and develop their fruity sweetness. Get the Recipe 03 of 38 Clams in Garlic Sorrel Cream Emily Kordovich Eric Adjepong (Seasons 16 and 17: All-Stars) Chef Eric Adjepong's steamed clams get a burst of bright flavor from green, tangy sorrel. If you can't find sorrel, or it's out of season, Adjepong recommends using fresh basil and adding a little extra lemon juice to mimic its tart, lemony flavor. Don't skip the warm crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce. Get the Recipe 04 of 38 Hawaiian-Style Garlic Butter Shrimp Victor Protasio Sheldon Simeon (Seasons 10 and 14) This recipe from Hawaiian chef Sheldon Simeon is inspired by the food trucks that serve garlic butter shrimp on Oahu's North Shore. The shrimp are marinated in a mixture of Italian dressing, mayonnaise, calamansi juice, and salt, then grilled and tossed in roasted garlic butter. The result: unbelievably sweet, juicy grilled shrimp. You can make the garlic butter in advance, and use any leftover garlic butter on pasta, fish, or toast. Get the Recipe 05 of 38 Beet and Pear Salad Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Shota Nakajima (Season 18) This crunchy, refreshing salad studded with purple beets, Asian pear, and hazelnuts is complemented by a fragrant dressing of ginger and white miso. It combines the earthy sweetness of beets with the crisp acidity of Asian pear, and the complementary textures of the ingredients will keep you coming back for seconds. Simply dressed with an umami-forward miso-honey dressing and finished with toasted hazelnuts and Parmesan cheese, this dish can incorporate any root vegetables or tree fruits. Get the Recipe 06 of 38 Chicken and Shrimp Laksa Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling byClaire Spollen Buddha Lo (Season 19) Top Chef winner Buddha Lo shares this family recipe for Chicken and Shrimp Laksa, a refreshing and brothy noodle dish popular throughout Southeast Asia. Lo's homemade laksa paste — made with fresh lemongrass, pungent shrimp paste, and nutty peanuts — forms the base of this fragrant noodle dish, while coconut cream adds a velvety mouthfeel to the aromatic broth. Top it with poached shrimp and chicken, fresh herbs, and fried shallots, and slurp with joy. Get the Recipe 07 of 38 Cheddar Cheese Pound Cake with Brandy Caramel Apples Photo by Sarah Crowder / Food Styling by Chandra Ram Dawn Burrell (Season 18) This poundcake created by chef Dawn Burrell gets a bit of a savory edge from the mellow cheddar cheese mixed into the batter and sprinkled on top of the cake as it bakes. It's excellent with afternoon coffee or tea on its own, but the Brandy Caramel Apples move it clearly into dessert territory (add a scoop of ice cream to take it over the top). You can bake one large cake in a Bundt or tube pan, or bake two cakes in loaf pans. Get the Recipe 08 of 38 Creamy Mashed Potato Soup with Dashi Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Shota Nakajima (Season 18) Dashi and soy sauce add umami to buttery leftover mashed potatoes in this cozy soup from chef Shota Nakajima. As a kid, whenever he was hungry, he'd grab anything left over from the previous meal to make soup or fried rice. "I grew up in a Japanese family, and I was taught to never waste anything," Nakajima says. This soup is his riff on a recipe from his mother. Add milk for a creamier texture, or more dashi for a thinner consistency. Substitute any mashed vegetable you have on hand, such a cauliflower or sweet potato, but be sure to finish the soup with generous pats of melting butter and an extra drizzle of soy. Get the Recipe 09 of 38 Seared Tuna Tiradito Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson Stephanie Izard (Season 4) At Cabra in Chicago, 2011 F&W Best New Chef Stephanie Izard channels her love of Peruvian cuisine to deliver inspired takes on traditional ceviche and tiradito. At the restaurant, Izard dresses raw sushi-grade tuna steak with a creamy Kewpie mayonnaise-laced sauce, thinned with lime and orange juices, and studded with spicy serrano chiles. For a twist, try giving the tuna a quick sear in a screaming-hot skillet to add another layer of complexity to the dish. Get the Recipe 10 of 38 Monkfish Piccata Greg DuPree Tiffani Faison (Seasons 1 and 8: All-Stars) Monkfish, with its tender, springy bite reminiscent of lobster, is firm and sweet enough to stand up to this lemony butter sauce enriched with white miso. Plenty of briny capers and caperberries help cut through the richness. Get the Recipe 11 of 38 Pulling-from-the-Pantry Puttanesca Victor Protasio Zoi Antonitsas (Season 4) Chef Zoi Antonitsas is passionate about preserved fish. The salty, briny fillets are her favorite powerhouse pantry ingredient. They can make almost anything into a meal—and a delicious one at that. For this quick, flavorful puttanesca, use high-quality tins, like Matiz España brand, for the best results. Get the Recipe 12 of 38 Emperor's Pork Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling byClaire Spollen Buddha Lo (Season 19) The late Aussie restaurateur Tony Lo taught his son Buddha Lo — the winner of Season 19 of Top Chef — how to braise and glaze pork belly in a sweet and savory sauce laced with warm notes of cinnamon and rock sugar, along with soy and MSG. Serve the glazed cubes of pork with steamed greens and white rice to soak up the sauce. Get the Recipe 13 of 38 Carla Hall's Buttermilk Biscuits Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Torie Cox Carla Hall (Seasons 5 and 8: All-Stars) Made with a combination of grated cold butter for flavor and vegetable shortening for tenderness, chef Carla Hall's biscuits owe their towering, flaky layers to her classic laminating technique. You can freeze the unbaked biscuits on a pan, and then keep them in a resealable freezer bag in the freezer for up to two months. Get the Recipe 14 of 38 Kai Jeow Moo Sab (Thai Fried Omelet with Pork) Anna Stockwell Leah Cohen (Season 5) "The first time that I ate one of these omelets was on the street in Thailand," says Leah Cohen, chef of New York's Pig & Khao. "I had never eaten a deep-fried egg and I was shocked that it was crispy but still tender. My mind was blown and [the] low-and-slow egg cooking that my French training taught me was turned on its ear." Two important tips: Whisk the eggs well until light and frothy and uniform in color, and make sure that the oil is smoking hot. Get the Recipe 15 of 38 Pork Curry Tostadas Matt Taylor-Gross Stephanie Izard (Season 4) Stephanie Izard pulls from cuisines around the globe for these tostadas, which feature a rich pork curry, smashed avocados, and bright, tart pickled onions and peppers. Get the Recipe 16 of 38 Fried Shrimp and Grits Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall Tiffany Derry (Season 7) This fun, fresh take on shrimp and grits has incredible texture thanks to crunchy panko breadcrumbs and cheese-y, gooey grits, while the smoky, meaty tomato sauce adds more complexity to each bite. It's a great way to use up leftover grits. Get the Recipe 17 of 38 Rib Eye Aguachile with Ponzu Sauce Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Claudette Zepeda (Season 2 of Top Chef Mexico and Season 15 Top Chef U.S.) Claudette Zepeda uses a reverse-sear technique for this steak served with a salty, umami ponzu sauce. She tops the steak with a fresh tomatillo, onion, cucumber, and cilantro salad that balances the richness of the meat. If you can't find a pre-cut 28-ounce ribeye, ask your butcher to cut one. Be sure to stock up on charcoal and have three (3-inch) hardwood oak wood chunks on hand to make the most of this recipe. The flavors of this dish are inspired by the pantry of northern Mexico, where Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ingredients are common because people from those countries were in Tijuana. "Mexico is a complex melting pot of people, where the story stops being about why we're so different and starts being about why we're so similar," Zepeda notes. "Chinese laborers built the city of Tijuana; Japanese immigrants established the entire seafood industry in Ensenada. These are the stories that inspire me." Get the Recipe 18 of 38 Lamb Sausage Kefta Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall Stephanie Izard (Season 4) Grassy, sweet lamb gets a flavor boost from a warm Moroccan spice mix in this recipe for Lamb Sausage Kefta. Chilling the sausage before cooking helps it hold its shape. As well, the meat stays tender and juicy, and gets nice and browned in the skillet. If you'd like, you can substitute pork in for lamb; the lamb sausage mixture can also be used to make meatballs or burger patties. Serve the kefta with a tzatziki-style dip. Get the Recipe 19 of 38 Smoked Ham Hock and Lentil Soup Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Nina Compton (Season 11) "I love making this lentil soup when the weather begins to cool," says 2017 F&W Best New Chef Nina Compton, chef-owner of New Orleans hot spot Compère Lapin. "The ham-hock aroma hangs around the kitchen beautifully; the smell alone makes you warmer. Adding a little ginger and lemongrass brightens the soup and reminds me of being back home in St. Lucia. Using local okra reminds me of my Louisiana home and adds a different texture." Get the Recipe 20 of 38 Tempura Four Ways Photo by Jennifer Causey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn Shota Nakajima (Season 18) This big platter of tempura vegetables, shrimp, and uni served with tendashi and matcha salt from Top Chef contestant Shota Nakajima is an excellent snacking platter that can double as a meal. The tempura chocolate cookies stuffed with cream accented with Wagyu fat and then fried are an unexpected sweet finish. Get the Recipe 21 of 38 Farro Mafaldine with Black Truffle Butter and Mushrooms Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Karen Akunowicz (Seasons 13 and 17: All-Stars) This elegant-yet-hearty dish pairs creamy butter, nutty farro pasta, and a fortifying mix of wild mushrooms with just enough truffle to elevate each forkful. Black truffle paste, available year-round, melts beautifully into the buttery sauce, but when they're in season (November through February), chef Karen Akunowicz recommends splurging for fresh black truffles, and using a rasp grater to get as much truffle goodness as possible into each perfect bite. Get the Recipe 22 of 38 Birria Tacos Greg Dupree Claudette Zepeda (Season 2 of Top Chef Mexico and Season 15 Top Chef U.S.) In chef Claudette Zepeda's Birria Tacos recipe, a combination of two meats creates the best balance of tender texture (from the chuck roast) and succulence (from the short ribs). The tacos get slow-cooked flavor from the adobo sauce, which features three dried chiles—guajillo, ancho, and cascabel. Get the Recipe 23 of 38 Chickpea Doubles with Tamarind and Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce Photo by Greg DuPree / Prop Styling by Christine Keely / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer Kwame Onwuachi (Season 13) Traditional Trinidadian doubles are served open-faced and quickly wrapped in wax paper, letting the bara steam, and keeping the spicy filling piping hot. Try leftover tamarind sauce in margaritas, drizzled over fresh mangoes, or with roast pork. Get the Recipe 24 of 38 Croatian Langoustine and Squid Ink Risotto Jennifer Causey Joe Flamm (Season 15) For this creamy Croatian risotto, Top Chef Season 15 winner Joe Flamm was inspired by a dish from Gverovic-Orsan, a seafood restaurant on the Adriatic Sea. Squid ink provides dark color and a gentle brininess. Rather than lots of butter and cheese, this risotto relies entirely on stirring to make it creamy, so stay close by as it cooks. You can substitute the langoustines with eight large shrimp or four halved Maine lobster tails, if needed. Get the Recipe 25 of 38 Poul Nan Sos (Haitian Chicken in Sauce) Eva Kosmas Flores Gregory Gourdet (Seasons 12 and 17: All-Stars) "When I was a kid, we often left Queens on Sunday mornings to visit Mémère, my paternal grandmother, in New Jersey," chef Gregory Gourdet says. "Along with warm kisses and a few words of broken English, this chicken stew would greet us. Its official name (poul nan sos in Haitian Creole, or 'chicken in sauce"' is quite an understatement. The meat is marinated overnight with onions, garlic, thyme, and chiles along with citrus, and then rubbed forcefully onto the chicken to access the fragrant oils. After the meat takes on all that flavor, it's stewed with the marinade and loads of bell peppers for a satisfying, thrilling stew. This dish is Haiti, something we make time and time again. I suspect you will, too." Get the Recipe 26 of 38 Za'atar Baked Eggs John Kernick Gail Simmons (Judge) "In my teens, I spent a summer on a kibbutz in Israel working in my first professional kitchen," TV personality and cookbook author Gail Simmons says. "I was assigned to breakfast duty and fell in love with scrambling, poaching, and frying eggs by the dozens. Today, one of my go-to brunches is baked eggs in a cherry tomato–pepper mix seasoned with the Mediterranean spice blend za'atar." Get the Recipe 27 of 38 Hong Kong Milk Tea Tiramisu Chelsea Kyle Melissa King (Seasons 12 and 17: All-Stars) This ultra-rich tiramisu from Top Chef Season 17 winner Melissa King is subtly sweet and well balanced by the lightly bitter tannins in the Hong Kong milk tea powder. If you want to make this dessert in advance, assemble the tiramisu without the milk chocolate garnish and chill it overnight. Get the Recipe 28 of 38 Casarecce with Sausage, Pickled Cherries and Pistachios © Con Poulos Tom Colicchio (Judge) This creamy pasta from chef Tom Colicchio comes together in just minutes, though you'll have to make the pickled cherries the night before. Pair the finished dish with a tart, cherry-scented Austrian red, such as Zweigelt. Get the Recipe 29 of 38 Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches Eva Kolenko Kristen Kish (Season 10) Top Chef Season 10 winner Kristen Kish designed this dessert to honor both of her grandmothers, one known for her apple pie and the other for her snickerdoodles. Kish folds spiced apple pie filling into vanilla ice cream, then sandwiches it between chewy snickerdoodle cookies. Get the Recipe 30 of 38 Pork Ribs Vindaloo © Marcus Nilsson Floyd Cardoz (Top Chef Masters Season 3) The late, iconic chef and Top Chef Masters winner Floyd Cardoz created this juicy, saucy dish as an ode to his mother's pork vindaloo, using ribs instead of the more traditional shoulder. Serve the ribs with crusty bread to mop up every bit of the spiced, tangy sauce Get the Recipe 31 of 38 Sauce-Simmered Spaghetti al Pomodoro © Christina Holmes Sarah Grueneberg (Season 9) Here, Top Chef finalist Sarah Grueneberg cooks parboiled spaghetti right in the tomato sauce so it becomes infused with flavor. To get a head-start on the recipe, you can make the sauce in advance — it can be covered and refrigerated for up to five days. Get the Recipe 32 of 38 Porterhouse Steak © John Kernick Bryan Voltaggio and Michael Voltaggio (Bryan: Seasons 5: Masters, 6, and 17: All-Stars. Michael: Season 6) For a perfectly tender and crusty steak, brothers and chefs Bryan Voltaggio and Michael Voltaggio salt their meat up to 12 hours before cooking and let it sit, uncovered, in the refrigerator. This step seasons the meat to its core and pulls out moisture for a better sear. Get the Recipe 33 of 38 Sweet-and-Spicy Spareribs with Korean Barbecue Sauce © Christina Holmes Mei Lin (Season 12) Top Chef Season 12 winner Mei Lin slow-roasts these ribs in the oven until they're super-tender; then she glazes them on the grill with a sweet and spicy sauce spiked with gochujang. She also stirs the sauce into pulled pork, serves it with french fries instead of ketchup, and mixes it with melted butter to toss with fried chicken. Get the Recipe 34 of 38 Crespelle with Ricotta and Marinara © Quentin Bacon Tony Mantuano (Top Chef Masters Season 2) In this recipe, adapted from Wine Bar Food by Tony Mantuano and his wife, Cathy, lush ricotta-filled crêpes bake in a rich marinara sauce. The Mantuanos recommend serving the meal with a Tuscan red blend. Get the Recipe 35 of 38 Shrimp and Grits with Mustard Seed Chowchow Victor Protasio Isaac Toups (Season 13) New Orleans–based chef Isaac Toups loves Bellegarde grits for their creamy texture and buttered popcorn flavor. The chowchow for this recipe can be made up to a week in advance and is delicious with grilled meats or other rich dishes. Get the Recipe 36 of 38 Sautéed Zucchini with Ginger and Dill © John Kernick Padma Lakshmi (Former Host and Judge) This is a light and lovely way to prepare zucchini, which gets quickly sautéed with garlic, shallots, and ginger, then tossed with fresh dill. TV personality, and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi likes to stir dried pomegranate seeds (called anardana in India) into this dish for a bit of crunchy tang. Get the Recipe 37 of 38 Crisp and Lacy Onion Rings © John Kernick Richard Blais (Seasons 4 and 8: All-Stars) There are all sorts of tricks for making deep-fry batters both delicate and crisp. Sometimes, recipes call for beating in beer or club soda (the little air bubbles lighten the mixture), or adding vodka (alcohol boils off more quickly than water, enhancing a batter's texture). For these onion rings, chef Richard Blais uses both strategies and amplifies their effect by aerating the batter in a siphon. The results are some of the laciest, crunchiest onion rings you'll ever taste. This batter is equally good on all kinds of fried foods, like chicken, pork cutlets, fish, and other vegetables. Get the Recipe 38 of 38 Hung's Clay Pot Rice © Ethan Hill Hung Huynh (Season 3) This earthy, mushroom-and-bacon-studded clay pot rice from chef Hung Huynh is flavored with ginger, garlic, and scallions. Soft, slightly sweet ginkgo nuts can be added to the dish as well. 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