Although the rules have been a little more relaxed this year, most MasterChef Australia challenges have ingredients that must be used, and sometimes these ingredients conflict with what a contestant can and can’t eat.
For example, there was a Butchery Elimination Challenge in 2018 where contestants had to identify cuts of beef and then butcher and cook beef — which wouldn’t be ideal for a vegetarian.
More recently, there was a challenge set by Curtis Stone which required contestants to choose from different cuts of pork to hero in their dish. While all of the 2026 contestants seemed comfortable taking on the challenge, it raises an interesting question: what happens if a contestant’s dietary requirements or religious beliefs prevent them from cooking a particular ingredient? For example, pork may be off-limits for Muslim contestants, while beef may be unsuitable for Hindu contestants.
According to Rhiannon Anderson, who came runner-up on MasterChef Australia 2023, and competed in 2025’s MasterChef Australia: Back to Win, the producers do their due diligence and check for any dietary or cultural restrictions before setting challenges that may conflict with them.
“MasterChef are really inclusive and make sure they know if a contestant has any cultural or dietary requirements. MasterChef also makes sure all the contestants know so everyone can be respectful and supportive,” Rhiannon told Chattr.
MasterChef contestants will generally cook with food they can’t eat if the challenge requires it
She explained what happens if a challenge did arise that required a contestant to cook an ingredient they couldn’t eat.
“The contestant will generally still cook with the product but they won’t taste it. Most challenges have a range of options and it’s rare that that situation comes up.”
MasterChef 2024’s Juan De La Cruz told Chattr that while there weren’t any vegetarians on his season, in the cooking industry he’s found that chefs will generally still cook with ingredients that they wouldn’t be willing to eat.
“I had to deal with this situation in commercial kitchens where the cooks don’t eat beef or are vegetarians, they don’t try the food, and it’s a risk as you cannot control 100% the outcome but the more they prepare it the better understanding they get.”
He added that generally the MasterChef contestants already know their restrictions prior to going on to the show.
“[With something like being a vegetarian], when you sign up to be part of the MasterChef kitchen you have to know and accept that you ll have to cook with everything and anything that comes your way in each challenge,” he said.
MasterChef Australia airs on Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.
