Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Ted Allen, CHOPPED: ALTON'S MANIACAL BASKETS is a five-episode CHOPPED tournament that features Alton Brown harnessing the power of his social media following, as he joins forces with his fans to come up with maniacal ingredients that competitors must use to create unique and delicious dishes over three rounds: appetizer, entree, and dessert. The judges' panel consisting of Alton, Maneet Chauhan and Marcus Samuelsson select the winners from the four preliminary heats who will face-off in the grand finale featuring the biggest maniacal twist yet to see which chef goes home with the $50,000 cash prize.

The sixteen chefs must brace themselves for shocking ingredients in each basket, selected with the help of Alton's conspiring fans. A Scandinavian delicacy with a challenging texture awaits in an appetizer basket, while sticky beans and a peculiar salad are the basket surprises in the entree round. For the dessert basket, the chefs have their work cut out for them to make great dishes from the wild ingredients presented. The tournament heats up in another episode as the competitors brace themselves for a unique style of apple pie in the entree round that has everyone asking 'why?' And the competitors are faced with an unusual pudding consisting of pork in the dessert basket to see which chef is worthy to join the winners of the other preliminary heats. In the finale, Alton has a big announcement that is sure to get the chefs fired up for their appetizer basket. Then, the final three challengers open their entree baskets to discover that one of the items is staring back at them. Finally, a weird wedding cake is part of the dessert round puzzle that the chefs must solve to determine who is crowned the Chopped Grand Champion.