Series 18

Season 18 · 2026 · 21 episodes

Episodes

1Episode 12016 winner Gary Maclean, who has gone on to become the first National Chef of Scotland, sets the challenges for four chefs seeking to make it through to the quarter-finals.
2Episode 2The challenges for another group of contestants aiming for a place in the quarter-finals include preparing a dish of steamed razor clams and a dessert with authentic cranachan cream.
3Episode 3It's the first quarter-final, and the chefs face an invention test demanding that they do something magical with an ingredient they will all have probably worked with before – king prawns!
4Episode 42020 professional finalist Philli Armitage-Mattin sets the contestants a Korean-inspired skills test to make it through to the quarter-finals.
5Episode 5Philli Armitage-Mattin sets the chefs a skills test challenge, using her own recipes. Two must recreate chicken wings stuffed with pork mince, the others, souffle pancakes with sake-poached plums.
6Episode 6The chefs are challenged to create their own special twist on rice pudding, before serving up two plates of food to impress restaurant critics Jimi Famurewa, Jay Rayner and William Sitwell.
7Episode 72022 champion Nikita Pathakji sets the week's new group of chefs the task of recreating her dish of king prawns served in a coconut and lemongrass broth.
8Episode 8The chefs have just 20 minutes to prepare and cook a bavette steak served with a papaya and noodle salad, and crispy noodles.
9Episode 9This week's quarter-finalists are faced with an invention test that must scream chicken, but which only includes off-cuts.
10Episode 102018 finalist Matthew Ryle sets the competing chefs skills tests inspired by French classic cookery, highlighting just what you can achieve with red mullet and roasted poussin.
11Episode 112018 finalist Matthew Ryle sets the skills test challenges: raviolo stuffed with pea and ricotta and poached pear mille-feuille with a hazelnut praline cream.
12Episode 12The last group of quarter-finalists must do something magical with mince if they are to make it through to knockout week.
13Episode 13Knockout week has arrived. It will see the best 13 chefs who have cooked their way through the heats and quarter-finals face an invention test.
14Episode 14Knockout week continues as the ten remaining professional chefs are split into two groups. The first five head to Boxhall in central London to meet Marcus and Monica for their first challenge.
15Episode 15It's the end of knockout week and time for the second group of five professional contestants to enter the world of pop-ups as they head out of the MasterChef kitchen for the first time in the competition.
16Episode 16The semi-finals begin with the remaining eight chefs challenged to deliver a dish that uses all the chosen ingredients, with absolutely nothing wasted.
17Episode 17The six semi-finalists are asked to cook their own Thai-style dish from a larder of ingredients selected by John Chantarasak.
18Episode 18The semi-finalists are whisked off to the stunning Scottish Highlands, where maestro Mark Donald puts them to work at The Glenturret Lalique, a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
19Episode 19Finals week has arrived, along with the biggest challenge the four remaining in the competition have faced in their careers: cooking for 27 of the UK and Ireland's leading chefs at the Goring Hotel.
20Episode 20The three chefs left standing head off for an Italian culinary adventure in South Tyrol, where they help prepare a lunch service at the three-Michelin-starred Atelier Moessmer.
21Episode 21Just one cook-off stands between the three remaining chefs and the title of MasterChef: The Professionals 2026 champion.