Sixteen of the country's finest junior home cooks compete for eight of the Top 20 spots of the season. After being split into four groups, each with a distinct signature dish, the kids get started. Only two contestants from each group will find out if they will succeed in moving on to the next round of challenges.

The remaining junior chefs compete for the final 12 spots in the Top 20. Making dishes ranging from cupcakes, to steak and lobster, the young chefs are tested to their limits and will find out if they will move on to the next round.

The Top 20 face the season's first mystery box challenge, during which they must cook dishes using both sweet and savory ingredients. Later, the contestants must replicate Chef Ramsay's signature hand-roasted sea bass. Then, it's up to the judges to decide who stays and who goes home. Chef Aarón Sanchez is the guest judge.

The Top 18 return to the kitchen to face off in 2 challenges. In the first, the young cooks are split into teams and have 10 minutes to make a classic American dish: the corn dog. The winning team gets to turn the judges into a yummy treat. Later, the contestants have to make a juicy burger, but there's a tough catch! Then, it's up to the judges to decide who stays and who goes home.

The Top 16 face off in their first team challenge, during which they cook lunch for first responders. Each team will have to create a dish featuring a delicious filet mignon and the guests will vote on which is better - the team with the most votes will win the challenge. Then, it's up to the judges to determine which two cooks from the losing team will head home.

The Top 14 junior home cooks receive a mystery box challenge inspired by the White House garden from former First Lady Michelle Obama. The young cooks must come up with an original recipe that is both healthy and presidential worthy, and the winner will receive a special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! For the next challenge, Julie Bowen steps into the MasterChef kitchen to watch the kids make a dish in honor of their moms. Then, it's up to the judges to decide which contestant will go home.

Guest judge Richard Blais enters the kitchen to see what the kids can cook up. In the first challenge, the Top 12 junior home cooks team up into groups of three and have 10 minutes to make as many pies as possible. The winning team will be safe from elimination and will get to give the judges a sweet surprise! For the next challenge, the young chefs must use a blow torch to make either an appetizer, entrée, or dessert using ingredients from the MasterChef pantry. Then, it's up to the judges to decide who stays and who goes home.

Guest judge Richard Blais enters the kitchen once again, but not to judge the remaining 10 junior home cooks. There's a big surprise in the MasterChef kitchen, as the judges bring back the six kids who have gone home, to give them another shot at reentering the competition! The six junior home cooks will participate in two challenges that involve breaking apart a chicken and then using the parts to make unique dishes. Then, it's up to the judges to decide which two kids will be able to reenter the competition.

The Top 12 junior home cooks take their talents to the great outdoors, where they will cook for America's Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. For the first challenge, the kids are split into two teams and have to prepare and serve all scouts and troop leaders a dish that includes a pork chop entrée and two sides. The winning team moves on and the losing team heads back to the kitchen for a pressure test, during which they each must make a box of macaroons. Then, it's up to the judges to decide which two kids will go home.

In the first challenge, the young chefs are split into teams of two and must replicate a gingerbread house. Then, in the next challenge, Aarón Sánchez joins the kitchen as a guest judge, and the kids must cook up a Gordon Ramsay holiday classic. Finally, it's up to the judges to decide which two kids will go home.

MasterChef welcomes guest judge Chef Edward Lee...and the contestants' families! In the season's first mystery box challenge, the junior home cooks must prepare a delicious dish of their choice, inspired by their families. Then, in the next challenge, the young cooks team up in pairs to replicate a sushi platter and the judges will decide which two kids will go home.

The Top 6 are split up into two teams, and have 75 minutes to create an entrée for VIP guests who range from firefighters to professional softball players, and construction workers to pilots. The guests will then vote on which dish they prefer and the winning team will receive a huge advantage later on in the competition. Next, the young cooks face an elimination challenge and welcome two surprise guests who will join in the fun – Miss Piggy and Swedish Chef! Then it’s up to the judges to decide who will go home.

The remaining young cooks face a high-pressure team challenge, during which they must cook for food critics, chefs and journalists at a pop-up restaurant on the beautiful California coast. The young cooks will have one hour to serve delicious scallop appetizers and another hour to dish out red snapper entrees to the guests. The winning team will go straight to the semifinals, but two young chefs from the losing team will have to leave the kitchen.

The Top 4 are in for a sweet challenge, as they recreate a chocolate molten lava cake to perfection. The winner will receive a huge advantage and could win a spot in the final round. Next up is the elimination challenge, during which each contestant will have to create a dish using one of the world’s most popular meats. Two of the young chefs will be sent home, leaving only two to battle it out for the grand prize.

In the last cook-off of the season, guest judges Wolfgang Puck and Martha Stewart join, as the two finalists prepare a three-course meal from scratch. In the end, only one will be crowned the winner and receive a check for $100,000.

The 40 junior home cooks are split up into two groups – girls and boys. All 20 girls are tasked with making a flawless medium-rare filet mignon dish. Only 12 winners earn an apron and a chance to move on.

The 40 junior home cooks are split up into two groups – girls and boys. All 20 boys must prepare the perfect chicken breast dish. Only 12 winners earn an apron and a chance to move on.

The Top 20 face a team challenge to prepare a lunch service for a wedding party of 75 guests, which will consist of racks of lamb and pan-seared halibut.

The Top 22 split up into teams and must prepare as many perfect-looking milkshakes as they can in just 10 minutes. The winning teams will be safe from elimination and one unlucky judge will get a sweet surprise! Then, the rest of the junior cooks will each have to put their own personal twist on a classic chicken-and-waffles dish.

The Top 20 face their toughest team challenge yet: preparing lunch service for a wedding of 75 guests. Both sides will be cooking racks of lamb and pan-seared halibut, and it will be up to the judges to decide which team wins and who from the losing team will head home.

The junior home cooks face a mystery box challenge that tasks them with making desserts using natural sweeteners other than sugar.

The junior chefs split up into pairs and have to decorate and frost as many specialty donuts as they can in just 10 minutes, all while being tied by the ankle to their partner! Later in the kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's daughter, Matilda, gives the contestants a masterclass on how to make her version of a hamburger and French fries. Then, the junior chefs must do their best to replicate it before the judges determine who will be sent home.

Sixteen pint-sized chefs from all around the country earn their white aprons and are tasked with their first challenge: a secret item they must use as the star of their dish. The cooks must impress judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, and Daphne Oz.

Fifteen chefs join together and collaborate in their groups to create the most show-stopping pizzas in only 20 minutes. The group that impresses the judges the least faces the elimination round, where they compete blindfolded.

The remaining 14 junior chefs split into 2 teams to prepare a medieval-themed dish for a crowd of lords and ladies, who vote for the winning team.