Best MasterChef USA Contestants

When I first saw there was a top 10 list for master chef contestants, I knew Christine would be #1. Such a nice person and very talented. She never made excuses when she made mistakes (which she made hardly any to begin with), was always consistent with her dishes, and earned the respect of the other cooks even though they were her competition.

Most talented contestant ever. Deserves to win the competition. Why isn't she 1st in this list?

You guys know they rigged the competition for her why would a blind person win and some how she won the crab challenge with a stupid cocktail.

Of course a blind person couldn't cook without any assistance. That's how she was able to cook a crab cocktail.

Christine is inspiring and all of you who say it’s rigged are jealous of her talent.

The first winner of the US Masterchef. Of course her name deserves to be up there!

He was the only one to call out the judges' bias and favoritism of Jennifer

Quite honestly, I wouldn't put arrogant ass Christian in the top 10.

They actually said he was one of the nicest contestants off camera

He only came back to alieviate the Paula Deen controversy

I was so sad when he passed :(

R.I.P

Super good cook and learned from his mistakes even though he got called out earlier in the competition he shoulve won season 3

Really nice guy, not arrogant like other chefs on this show. People feel he screwed Josh over, but it’s a competition, and he was thinking strategically. I like josh to, but I disagree with his comment of Frank being a jerk. He’s not a jerk, he’s awesome.

Even though he can be over confident, I still found myself rooting for him. Really because of things like giving Jessie the butter.

Luca was probably the most gentlemanly out of any guest on masterchef so far, shining examples are when he gives ingredients to people who needed them, simply because he wanted to go against people that where trying their best.

Christine was only number 1 because she has disability, but Luca is way more talented, plus he is genuinely a good hearted person.

Luca was the best in season 4 he should be number 1

Very creative, despite what others said about her memorising recipes, her crab scotch egg was exceptional and her soup and soda bread was very clever. I think she was an intelligent and humble cook as well as an exceptionally charming and nice person.

Almost everyone is biased against her. But she managed to outsmart her competitors.

She was good and funny.

He had the amazing technique, he had the wonderful creativity and he had a winning personality. Nailed pretty much every challenge and is easily one of he most deserving winners in Masterchef history.

I love you Dino! Best winner ever!

Not only the sexiest (arguably) but also by far the most endeavoring, perseverant, courageous and adventurous (objectively) contestant this show has ever witnessed. There have been many fantastic competitors in the past but not one individual is comparable to Dino.

By far the most creative chef out of all the seasons!

Shaun is the most heartfelt

I wish Derrick won season 6 but he is doing well now and I love his food

One of the best Masterchef contestants of all time

He really deserved to win instead of Claudia.

Best chef of season 6

She is sooo nice and the best

So hot and nice.. Like princess

she's cute

I think Jessie is good enough to be in top 10. She may lose out to Natasha in terms of consistency, but her leadership skills and her ability to handle pressure is without doubt.

"Everybody thinks you're in the show because you look good, but you're in the show because you cook good." - Gordon to Jessie

This arrogant prick should not be anywhere near this list!

Slightly better than Tali

He was also pretty funny

Leslie was one of the worst cook to ever be on masterchef here are the top 10 worst
10. Jeff Philbin
9. Noah Sims
8. Mark Togni
7. Leslie Gilliams
6. Micah Yaroch
5. Cutter Brewer
4. Bowen Li
3. Jake Gandolfo
2.Mike Newton
1. Tony Scruggs

He may have been cocky but he wasn’t all talk, he could back it up.

He can bake and cook savory unlike Malcolm from season 4 who couldn't do either. I just wish he put sugar instead of salt in the semifinals. His attitude is pretty unlikable, but he can back it up like Stephen from season 6.

To be honest Leslie was my favorite contestant ever. Everybody hated him and he feuded with so many people that it was cool to watch. His cooking is up to par with some of the best to ever do it on the show.

One of the nicest guys on this show. Wish they would have given him another chance as he really only did poor on one challenge.

Why did they send Terry home? He kicked ass!

Awesome cook. Damn shame he was eliminated so early!

Such a nice guy, I wish he could have gone further

Personal favorite

Absolutely hated her

Absolutely hated why is she on this list when she only cooked two good dishes in the entire competition
yeah her only two good dishes were her duck and risotto but every looks at her that she's good because of those two dishes

The fiercest contestant ever, he might not be the winner but he's charisma and talent win us all

If Olivia's in the top ten, tommy should be

He’s just so cute and hilarious! Plus Gordon said he wanted to wake up with him! Lmao!

Tommy was like a cartoon character.

I underestimated him. I did not think he would claim the first spot in the final 3 over Eboni and Cate! (Well, Cate actually got eliminated in that round, but still.)

Preferred Dino to him but he's honestly my second favorite contestant of all time, it's both a blessing and a curse that these two wonderfully positive human beings had to be in the same season.

Seriously? His excitement and love of food and his ever so bright personality has won my heart. I hope he wins the competition

Absolutely one of my favorite contestants from Season 8! Him, Cate, Dino, and Eoboni are my top 4 favorites

He was my most favorite of season 2.

Star struck

Glad she is higher than Courtney on this list.

So much more talented and consistent than the winner of her season, but she didn’t flirt with the judges enough apparently

What makes him one of the best MasterChef winners in my book is how he is an incredible student. He learned a lot from Joe, and as the competition went on, he evolved, and ultimately that's what won him the competition in the end. Excellent job, Gerron!

I can't begin to say that I wanted him to go home after Mark, but ultimately he has proved me wrong and got better as the season went along. He made such an amazing comeback and I am so glad that he won it at the very end. You gotta respect this man and his kindness towards others.

Nicest person on masterchef this season and deserved to win

Deserved to win, reminds me of Luca as well

Hate to admit it, but I kind of like Courtney. I know she didn't have the most impressive attitude in the kitchen, but she wasn't half as bad as Cutter, or even Dan. Plus she was a very consistent cook. But although I liked her, I still can say Elizabeth, or even Leslie should've won over her.

Lol. people use the fact she needed to work at a gentlemen's club to keep a roof under her head.

What have you done? Oh yeah, stained the internet.

"Favoritism." Oh god. Because she's a good cook means favoritism. Got it.

The theory that she slept with Gordon,Graham,and Joe. False. Proven False. Gordon and Graham have kids. You don't. Shut up.

Courtney won because she had more passion and talent than anyone else in season 5.

Oh god. Ahran was so right about what she said about favoritism.

Micah has so much heart and ambition. A young man who knows with all his heart and soul that being a chef is what he wants to do more than anything. I admire his courage for standing up to those who did not support him or his passionate dream (including those who should have - yeah, you know who you are...shame on you.) I am a mother and I cannot imagine not supporting my 40 year old son on his heart's journey to a noble and worthy career, such as Micah's. If Micah needs family support and encouragement at any time, my family will gladly adopt him, or, at the very least, be his surrogate family. Honest! Micah you're the best! - theshortview

Oh come on! Who the hell put Tali on here?! Tali was one of the worst contestants on this show!

#TeamTali forever. Only contestant who stood up for his cooking beliefs. Him and Ryan saw right through Monti's bs.

I wonder if people keep on voting for Tali and he makes it to number 1, biggest troll in The Top Tens history.

Luca is a great chef but I prefer Natasha. She should win that season

She’s cooks well but her attitude needs more work

Seriously why is Derrick the douche Top 4 when Stephen's nowhere near top 20?

Stephen is consistent. He beat every challenges and even brought them to a whole new leve with his skill. Even judges were surprised when seeing him in a pressure test. Being one of the oldest contestants he show viewers how to never stop chasing your dreams with his fiery spirit in the kitchen. Even until today I still believe that him not being in the final is part of the show’s politic to favor the other two contentants. Don’t forget he has the most wins for that season.

He would then go on to win Food Network Star.

I wanted him to win

Mmm... Shoudl of won the whole competition of masterchef

Yeah

Oh hell no! Krissi was one of the worst contestants! Worst personality out of anyone who has been on the show!

She even admitted she was a bully in school

It's not attitude, it's performance.

My favorite contestant. Also, how did she not even make Top 5 while Cutter, who is Jeff before Jeff was on the show, made Top 4? She can cook and show respect, while Cutter has neither.

She was WAY BETTER than Cutter! Cutter really SUCKS!

Good thing she had to call out the judges on playing favorites. I honestly couldn’t stand Courtney winning

Big Willie immediately became my favorite after the auditions. Good cook with awesome personality. He's funny, his passion is without question, he may not be the best leader but he has the integrity to go down with the ship.

Really?! This guy should be in to 5 because he never thought of himself and had so much integrity that he saved 3 other team members instead of himself from the pressure test!

Absolute unit

Here's a drinking game: Take a shot every time she mentions Kentucky

One of my favorites during season 7

Loved her so much I wish she had won.

Eh, he's alright. Had both really good moments, and also really bad moments in the kitchen.

James is underrated should have won

She looks a lot like Marcie from Peanuts

Definitely one of the best chefs in masterchef history. He should have been in the finale with Whitney.

He is also the only cook who won a mystery box and elimination challenge in a single episode.

Sad that she got disqualified the way she did

She was my favorite. It was that issue with time. but Diomand had raw sausage. That is very unsafe!

She was one of the best masterchef contestants
10. Monti Carlo
9. Courtney Lapresi
8. Brittany Craig
7. Andrea Galan
6. Cate Meade
5. Paige Jimenez
4. Sarah Faherty
3. Christine Ha
2. Samantha Daily
1.Natasha Crnjac
I know that several of these people were eliminated very early on however I think they deserved to go farther then they did

She did have potential, but she did deserve to go home for that dish.

This gal left too soon cause she had potential. She's also gorgeous.

Best overall performance of the season

He's a claudia clone with more skill

He has everything what a chef needs! creativity, technique, and he is so focused in the kitchen. He is from Mexico but he doesn’t cook always the same cuisine

Such a shame that his one poor performance knocked him out of the competition so early. He had been one of the top contenders at first.

Helene sucked. No talent. No passion. Has no business being on this list.

Says quite frankly scared too much
has no passion no love
so I'm glad she went home early