Padma Lakshmi is putting these chefs to the test tonight on “America’s Culinary Cup.” The 12 remaining chefs will get started working on the 10 Commandments of cooking. The first one: meat! Watch with us tonight during our “America’s Culinary Cup” 2026 live recap and see who got eliminated on “America’s Culinary Cup” tonight with us.
Meat the First Commandment
We got to see these 16 chefs in action last week, as the series premiere took place. It was a battle of head-to-head cookoffs, which in the end sent home four chefs on Night 1 of “America’s Culinary Cup” season 1.
Now, the remaining 12 chefs will be taking on the first commandment, which is meat. They’ll be heading to the farm and be tasked with breaking down a 250-plus-pound hind saddle of beef. They will then transform those cuts into amazing dishes for over 100 meat-loving guests. The fight to be named the winner of “America’s Culinary Cup” season 1 continues tonight, but who got eliminated on “America’s Culinary Cup” tonight? Find out with our Live Recap below!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: THIS LIVE RECAP WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE, SO DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS.
March 11 Live Recap – Week 2
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The Commandments Begin
The chefs are at the farm. They head into the barn, which has beef hanging from hooks. The commandment tonight is about meat and butchering. Malyna is opening a steakhouse, so she said this is right up her alley.
Padma arrives and she said they are starting the culinary commandments tonight. The first commandment is mastering the art of meat! The guest judge for tonight is Pat LaFrieda.
The first part of this challenge is about butchering. They will be working in teams of two and will have to butcher one flank steak, eight top sirloin center cuts, 10 New York strips, three Brazilian Picanhas, one tri-tip, and six filet mignons. Pat said it’s important to know what each cut looks like. One bad cut and they’re done.
Pat will be judging them, with a possible 20 points available. Speed does factor into the scoring. They have 60 minutes to complete their cuts.
Butchering Begins
The chefs paired up, and it’s time to start their butchering. The chefs seem to all be discussing their strategies, as Buddha has started! He is moving fast.
The beef is 225 pounds, so the chefs are struggling to get the meat on the table. Cara is pregnant and can’t lift it, so Buddha needs help. Chris helps him, which is a very nice gesture. The chefs are making their way through these cuts.
Beverly and Diana are the first team done. We have Buddha and Cara up next, as all of the teams are finishing up. Pat does his judging and the scores are in:
- First Place – Beverly & Diana with 14 points
- Second Place – Michael & Matt with 12 points
- Second Place – Buddha & Cara with 12 points
- Third Place – Emily & Chris with 8 points
- Fourth Place – Katie & Keith with 5 points
- Last Place – Kim & Malyna with 3 points
Now to Cooking
For the second part of this challenge, they will have to prepare a dish that showcases one cut of meat, cooked two ways. They will be cooking for 100 guests, as they are hosting “America’s Culinary Cup Carnivore Classic.”
The pairs will be no more for the cooking, as they will cook as individuals. However, the pairs have one final thing to do together: They must determine what cut of meat they will be cooking. Once that cut is gone, the other teams can’t choose it. That’s why scoring higher on the first part was key. Here are the cuts they chose:
- Beverly & Diana – Flank Steak
- Michael & Matt – Brazilian Picanhas
- Buddha & Cara – New York Strip
- Emily & Chris – Filet Mignon
- Katie & Keith – Tri-Tip
- Kim & Malyna – Top Sirloin Center Cuts
For this challenge on “America’s Culinary Cup,” they will have 2 1/2 hours today and 90 minutes tomorrow to prep and cook before the “Carnivore Classic” starts.
The chefs will be judged on four criteria: Taste, Presentation, Creativity, and Mastery of the Commandment. These cookery scores (four judges with a max of 20 each judge) will be added to their butchery scores, with a possible 100 points available. The person with the lowest score will be eliminated.
Prep Time
The chefs are working to come up with their dishes. Kim and Malyna are not happy with their meat choice. We are learning more and more about these chefs as they are prepping their dishes for the next day.
The prep time runs out, so time to go home for the night.
The next day arrives, so now they have 90 more minutes before the guests start arriving. Keith seems confident in the dish he is making, as he thinks he can make up some points from the butchery. The prep time runs out, as it’s time for the guests to arrive.
Carnivore Classic Tasting
The guests have arrived, and now the judges are in attendance. The guests have arrived, and the judges tonight are Padma, Michael, Wylie, and Pat.
The judges are going around to taste the dishes:
- Cara – Padma said it’s pretty amazing. Pat said the meat pancake was pretty amazing.
- Matt – Padma said the dish had a ton of flavor. The grilled steak was cooked perfectly. They said great job.
- Kim – She did not cook the meat two ways, so she screwed up already. Wylie said he loved the riff on beef and broccoli. Lots of flavor, well done. They seemed to enjoy it, even though she didn’t follow the rules.
- Beverly – Padma says it smells great. Pat said it’s amazing how tender she got the steak.
- Keith – Padma liked it, said good job.
- Buddha – He cooked the beef one way, but used it five ways. Michael said the favorite part of the dish was not the beef portion. Padma said she needed more salt. She said that while it’s delicious, it may not meet her expectations.
- Chris – That meat is very tender. The flavors are great. The beef is prepared in two different ways, but brought them back together.
- Emily – Michael said exciting and fun.
- Diana – It delivered on flavor and is beefy.
- Michael – The chili was a standout. Padma says he’ll go far if he keeps cooking like this.
- Katie – The burger came apart and was crumbly. Padma loved the flavors, but she got something in her bite.
- Malyna – They wanted it to be spicier, more fish sauce, and more lime. She tamed it down for the crowd, but Michael said embrace it. Padma said her knife cuts weren’t that great.
Results on ‘America’s Culinary Cup’
Padma said they all did great, but the chef with the lowest combined score on the butchery and cookery portions of this challenge will be eliminated. Here are the final standings for this challenge:
- First Place – Matt with 87 points
- Second Place – Cara with 86 points
- Third Place – Diana with 73 points
- Fourth Place – Beverly with 71 points
- Fifth Place – Chris with 65 points
- Sixth Place – Keith with 63 points
- Seventh Place – Michael with 55 points
- Eighth Place – Katie with 53 points
- Ninth Place – Emily with 51 points
The bottom three were Malyna, Kim, and Buddha. Malyna and Kim were at the bottom of the butchery aspect of this challenge, so their cookery didn’t help them. Kim didn’t make the meat in two different ways, and that was her ultimate downfall, as she has been eliminated tonight!
Padma says there is no time to celebrate for the other chefs, as vehicles arrive to take them to their next commandment! We will find out next week on what it is!
CBSWhat did you think of the results tonight on “America’s Culinary Cup” 2026?
