“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done” — Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out chef Julia Chebotar reflects on the intensity of the competition

Chef Julia Chebotar, known for her appearance on Chopped during culinary school, took on a new challenge in the July 2025 episode of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out. The series, known for sabotages and unpredictable culinary twists, tasked elite chefs with navigating high-pressure cooking scenarios for a potential cash prize.

For Chebotar, the pressure reached a peak during one of the show's sabotages, where she was limited to cooking with minimal equipment and unconventional ingredients.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,”

Julia said this during the episode, after having to adapt an entire pasta dish using a single casserole dish in the oven. Her journey through the challenges revealed that strategic thinking and improvisation are required to stay in the game, even when the odds were stacked against her.

Julia Chebotar’s outcome on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out?

Julia Chebotar introduced herself confidently on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, saying she’s been a private chef for 12 years and is no stranger to wild challenges or thinking quickly under pressure.

"I don't have a giant restaurant or a giant following. I competed in Chopped while I was still in culinary school and won. Don't underestimate me,” she said.

At the start of the July 2025 episode of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, Malarkey laid out the rules, telling the chefs they each had $25,000 to use for sabotage or to keep as prize money. He reminded them they were elite under normal conditions, but this competition would test them differently, especially since, in the first round, he would be the one delivering the sabotage.

"You all thought you were going to come in here and rock Cutthroat Kitchen. Cutthroat Kitchen’s about to rock you. In 45 minutes, my guest judge will arrive expecting the most refined Italian dish,” Malarkey declared.

Chebotar responded to the opening sabotage with a plan:

“I have no idea what it is, I'm really hoping that it's clams. I have to make pasta, and I have this casserole dish. I have stock, I have clam juice, I have pasta. I have the spices, so instantly I think of throwing it all in there and cooking the pasta in the oven.” She added, “This is the hardest thing I've ever done. Seriously, I have like one pot to do all of this with.”

Later in the episode, Julia Chebotar had to rethink her Italian entrée after a sabotage took away her original protein. She explained that she processed hot dogs to create a sausage-like texture and leaned on her spice mix—fennel, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes—to keep the dish on theme.

With her casserole dish for the pasta, she improvised a sheet pan out of aluminum foil and hoped the final result would come together. Brian Malarkey, checking on her mid-round, asked,

“What is this?” Adding, “Is this my hot dog? Did you grind it?”

She confirmed using the food processor, and he acknowledged the clever approach, saying the fennel made it unrecognizable as a hot dog. As the competition continued, Chebotar adapted her dish again after a setback, explaining that her roast didn’t work, so she crisped up the ingredients instead and planned to layer them.

When Malarkey noted the many pivots in Cutthroat Kitchen, she agreed, saying you have to roll with the punches. Though the meal started as a captain’s dinner, it had turned into more of a hash, but she hoped a good sauce would elevate it beyond just fried sweet potatoes and smoked salmon.

She further explained, “I decided to blanch peas really quickly and then throw them into a food processor with coconut milk, a little bit of acid, and some spices.”

In a Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out confessional, Malarkey commented on her progress:

“What the hell is Chef Julia making? She lost her protein early, but none of the other stuff happened to her. She's had all of this time, and this is the dish she's put together. Ouch.”

Chebotar admitted she wasn’t sure how the dish would turn out, saying it might still be colorful, but she wasn’t confident it met the level of a yacht entrée. She presented her creation, a sweet potato roast with coconut and pea sauce, smoked salmon, and pickled red onions.

She said she felt good about it overall, though she noted it leaned more toward a breakfast dish than a dinner. The Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out guest judge offered feedback:

“I think that roasty kind of exploded. It looks like roasty rice or sweet potato rice. Smoked salmon's really nicely layered on here. And the pea and coconut. Very unexpected, but a very nice flavor combination. It needed to be on the salmon because the potatoes were dry.”

Despite her adaptability and creative adjustments throughout the sabotages in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, Julia Chebotar did not win.

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Fans can stream Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out on Food Network.

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