If you’re gearing up for the series premiere of “Chopped Castaways” on Food Network tonight and want to know exactly how to watch it, you’re in the right place. We are letting you know how to watch the premiere episode of “Chopped Castaways” 2026, which will feature a food twist on the classic “Survivor” game. Get the “Chopped Castaways” season 1 premiere details below.
How to Watch the ‘Chopped Castaways’ Premiere
We finally have the series premiere of “Chopped Castaways” tonight on Food Network. The May 12 premiere will take place at 9/8c on Food Network.
New episodes of “Chopped Castaways” 2026 will air each Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max the next day.
More Season 1 Premiere Details
For this new cooking competition, the show will be hosted by Ted Allen. It will include judges Gabr Bertaccini, Maneet Chauhan, and Marcus Samuelsson.
The official description from Food Network: “Battling the elements across two grueling cooking rounds each week, competitors must build a working kitchen from basic supplies, earn their signature ‘Chopped’ ingredient baskets through intense physical challenges, and cook entirely over open fire.”
For each episode, it will begin with a “survival-driven” challenge. This will include tasks like spear fishing, diving, or digging. Completing these challenges will help secure the ingredients the chefs need to complete the first cooking round.
Like “Survivor,” the season will start with the contestants being divided into “tribes” or teams. We will eventually see the castaways “merge,” as they do on “Survivor.”
The season will start with the contestants separated into teams. They will eventually “merge,” like on “Survivor.” Then it will be every man or woman for themselves, as they raise the stakes and the chefs fight to outlast their rivals.
Season 1 Contestants
Check out the 12 chefs competing below:
- Chef Aidan Owens – Australian-born, San Diego-based culinary director
- Chef Ara Zada – Alum of culinary series like “Good Day L.A.” and “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing”
- Chef Carrie Baird – “Top Chef” Season 15 finalist
- Chef Cate Meade – Three-time “MasterChef” competitor
- Chef Dwight Hudgins – Social media chef, more popularly known as “The Dreaded Fisherman”
- Chef Hannah Flora – “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 23 runner-up
- Chef James Peck – Winner of BBC2’s “The Chef’s Brigade”
- Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois – Executive chef and creator of “Duck Camp Dinners”
- Chef Logan Sandoval – Alum of Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl” and Netflix’s “BBQ Showdown”
- Chef Paulette Tejada – NYC-based private chef and food stylist
- Chef Stephen Kina – Hawaiian-born BBQ pitmaster & restaurant owner
- Chef Sunny Moody – “BBQ Pitmaster” alum and two-time Steak & Live Fire Cooking World Champion
What Does the Winner Get?
These 12 elite chefs will be competing over eight episodes to be named the winner of “Chopped Castaways.”
What does the winner get? The winner of “Chopped Castaways” 2026 will get $100,000.
“Chopped Castaways” season 1 premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Food Network. All new episodes will be available to stream the next day on HBO Max. Will you be watching?
