MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5 Recap: First Mystery Box challenge puts Cheftestants to the test as they go through a sweet and spicy twist

Fox aired MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Season 15 Episode 5 on June 18, 2025. It featured the remaining duos of cheftestants competing against each other. For the latest episode, duos found two Mystery Boxes for the next challenge.

For the challenge, cheftestants were tasked with preparing a combination of a sweet and spicy dish, using the given ingredients. Previous challenge winners, Zach and Michelle, were given an advantage in choosing the protein.

The latest MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5 saw Rachel and Julio winning the Mystery Box challenge. On the other hand, Ashley and Ricky were eliminated after being in the bottom three.

MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5 Recap: With the first Mystery Box challenge, one of the Duos was sent home

The latest MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5 featured this season's first Mystery Box challenge. For that, cheftestants received two boxes. One of them had sweet ingredients while the other had spicy items. The challenge was to combine a minimum of two ingredients from each of the given boxes and prepare a dish.

As a twist, there was no protein in any of those boxes, which the judges later revealed. For that, 11 protein items were available. However, according to the twist, last week's winners, Zach and Michelle, were given a choice to decide which duos would get protein.

Since the challenge had no vegan dishes, one of the cheftestants, Darce and Courtney, had to go with the meat dish, for the first time. They were given chicken as their protein, a strategic move by Zach and Michelle. Cheftestants had 60 minutes to finish the challenge.

The top 3 duos on MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5 were:

• Jessica and Jesse,
• Rachel and Julio,
• Tina and Aivan.

With their seared prawns prepared with sweet carrot and ginger puree, Jessica and Jesse were praised by the judges.

"Visually, you deliver with such finesse," said Gordon Ramsay.

Joe said that they went "beyond" their assignment for a combination of sweet and spicy dishes.

Rachel and Julio cooked a seared octopus with patatas bravas, accompanied by spicy salsa roja, and served it with pickled apples.

"This dish is a perfect example of what a balanced dish should taste like. This is better than the octopus in some of my restaurants," said Joe.

MasterChef: Dynamic Duos judge Gordon mentioned he wanted more "sauce," while Tiffany also called their dish "delicious."

Tina and Aivan made a Korean-style BBQ short rib with radish kimchi and garlic rice. Gordon Ramsay said the ribs "melt" in his mouth, while Tiffany loved the beef. From the top 3 duos, Rachel and Julio won the challenge. They will get an advantage in the next task.

As for the bottom three duos on MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5, they were:

• Azu and Javier,
• Ashley and Ricky,
• Zach and Michelle.

Azu and Javier prepared a spiced venison dish, accompanied by sweet beurre rouge sauce and mashed potatoes. Gordon criticized their dish and said that it was not a "beurre rouge."

"And these three pieces of fruit look like they've come out of my son's lunchbox," he said.

Joe said the duo didn't come up with what they were supposed to.

Zach and Michelle's crispy skin duck breast with sweet cherry red wine sauce also received criticism from the judges. Their dish also had duck fat mashed potatoes with spicy mustard greens, for which Tiffany felt everything was "sweet." She mentioned there was no "balance" in their dish.

Ashley and Ricky prepared spiced-rubbed filet mignon with dirty rice. They had a sweet Chambord sauce and radish, along with a mango and pineapple slaw, in their dish. However, the duo was criticized for their filet, as they got it in the oven twice.

"It's the worst thing you could ever do to a filet," said Gordon Ramsay.

Joe also said that their dish had a "series of errors," and it resulted in Ashley and Ricky's elimination from MasterChef: Dynamic Duos.

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Hulu is now streaming MasterChef: Dynamic Duos Episode 5.

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