Top Chef Dishes

Richard Blais (Seasons 4 and 8: All-Stars)

“I just think carrots, particularly their tops and roots, are an artistic wonder,” Richard Blais says. “The color, the abstract shape—they’re gorgeous.” He cooks them in a tangy ginger sauce and then sprinkles them with the flavorful, seaweed-and-sesame-seed-based Japanese seasoning called furikake.

Hosea Rosenberg (Season 5)

In his riff on Black Forest cake, a favorite dessert of his father’s, Hosea Rosenberg tops individual cakes with mascarpone cream instead of whipped cream and luscious brandied cherries instead of jarred.

Marisa Churchill (Season 2)

Thick and creamy Greek-style yogurt contains bacteria cultures that may aid in digestion and strengthen the immune system. As an homage to her Greek heritage, Marisa Churchill uses it as the base for her tangy, low-fat panna cottas.

Michael Voltaggio (Season 6)

Betty Fraser and Cliff Crooks (Season 2)

For their delectably crusty and chewy pizzas, contestants Betty Fraser and Cliff Crooks adapted a bread recipe from star chef Jamie Oliver—a recipe Fraser had memorized—then covered it with slices of nutty Fontina cheese, prosciutto and sautéed onions.

Tre Wilcox (Seasons 3 and 8: All-Stars)

“I grew up on chicken thighs,” says Top Chef all-star Tre Wilcox. “These days I season them with crushed red pepper and star anise and braise them in a sauce with tomatoes and red wine.”

Tony Mantuano (Top Chef Masters)

Stephanie Izard (Season 4)

“When you learn how to cook scallops with a crisp golden crust, they’re just so good,” says Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard. To help brown the scallops, she adds butter to the pan halfway through cooking. The butter and bacon that flavor the colorful chard make this dish nicely rich.

Hubert Keller (Top Chef Masters)

“My trick for making individual cabbage cakes: Use a coffee cup to mold the stuffing in the cabbage leaves. Different meats are good: I add bacon to the veal and sausage,” says chef Hubert Keller.

Hung Huynh (Season 3)

As a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Top Chef winner Hung Huynh learned to cook with the Chinese trinity—GGS, or ginger, garlic and scallions. He uses all three here to flavor his earthy, mushroom-and-bacon-studded clay pot rice.

Harold Dieterle (Season 1)

Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle’s feel-good Thai coconut soup is flavored with chiles, ginger and lemongrass, and garnished with plenty of shrimp.

Elia Aboumrad and Sam Talbot (Season 2)

A carbonara sauce always has eggs, bacon (usually pancetta) and Parmesan or pecorino cheese; some versions contain heavy cream, others do not. Contestants Elia Aboumrad and Sam Talbot made their decadent sauce with plenty of cream; to add color and freshness they also added a less conventional ingredient—a handful of green peas.

Stephanie Izard (Season 4)

After experimenting with miso paste and flavorful Spanish marcona almonds, Stephanie Izard created a delectable nutty-sweet butter that she serves with meaty seared duck breasts.

Michael Voltaggio (Season 6)

Top Chef Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio says fish in a salt crust is sexy.

Spike Mendelsohn (Seasons 4 and 8)

Deconstructed nachos were Spike Mendelsohn’s inspiration behind this fun pizza. Made with chili-spiced black-bean puree, tomatoes, olives, shredded lettuce and low-fat Jack cheese on a whole-wheat crust, the pie also gets a little low-fat sour cream (that nacho staple) on top.

Carla Hall (Seasons 5 and 8)

“I adore savory cheese cookies with creamy asparagus soup,” says Carla Hall. “Both are dead simple to make.”

Marisa Churchill (Season 2)

Watermelon is a great source of vitamin C. Here, Marisa Churchill turns it into a fat-free granita, which she drizzles with a fragrant cardamom syrup.

Angelo Sosa (Seasons 7 and 8)

Tangy pickled cabbage and spicy carrot kimchi are the key to Angelo Sosa’s tofu-topped green salad. They are supereasy to make, but for a great shortcut, use store-bought kimchi in place of both.

Spike Mendelsohn (Seasons 4 and 8)

Spike Mendelsohn was inspired by the new beehive in the White House garden to make these lovely, not-too-sweet muffins. “I’m not a big breakfast eater, but I have muffins in my house right now,” he says.

Marisa Churchill (Season 2)

The kiwis and mango that fill these airy, low-fat meringues are high in vitamin C and other antioxidants. The low-calorie passion fruit seeds add tartness and intense tropical flavor.

Lee Anne Wong (Season 1)

This salad is incredibly satisfying, thanks to the fiber-rich barley Lee Anne Wong tosses with spinach and mushrooms. Crumbled firm tofu in the sherry vinegar dressing adds extra protein.

Spike Mendelsohn (Seasons 4 and 8)

“How many lunchrooms have disgusting Taco Tuesdays?” asks chef Spike Mendelsohn. As an alternative, he stuffs burritos with scrambled eggs (lightened with egg whites), feta, turkey bacon and spinach.

Ilan Hall (Season 2)

Ilan Hall’s ingenious dish merges fideos—a Spanish classic made with toasted pasta that’s cooked in stock—and Japanese grilled sticky rice cakes.

Hosea Rosenberg (Season 5)

Made from the starch of vegetables like mung beans, translucent glass noodles (a.k.a. cellophane noodles) are ubiquitous at pan-Asian restaurants. Hosea Rosenberg gives them extra care, stir-frying them in sesame oil with a generous array of vegetables—snap peas, carrots, zucchini and yellow squash, to name a few—then tossing them with tangy rice vinegar.

Floyd Cardoz (Top Chef Masters)

This summery grilled bass with ginger-spiced tomato salad is a favorite of chef Floyd Cardoz, an avid fisherman.