Salome Munoz and Willow Harper enter with very little cooking confidence and even less ramen experience.

Salome grew up surrounded by flavorful Spanish and Portuguese cooking, but admits she mostly survives on takeout these days. Willow’s kitchen expertise begins and ends with the microwave, which immediately becomes apparent once the challenge begins.

Willow seasons her short rib before overcorrecting with an avalanche of cayenne pepper, forcing Chef JoJo to step in.

Salome runs into similar trouble after loading her broth with far too much Tabasco.

As the final seconds tick away, Salome calmly finishes her garnishes while Willow races just to get broth and noodles into the bowl before time expires.

Chef JoJo praises Salome’s short rib and jammy egg, but her broth is overloaded with Tabasco and the noodles are so undercooked he has to spit them out. Willow’s ramen is far from perfect, but her broth is balanced, her noodles are cooked through, and her short rib lands much better overall.

With Salome’s noodles sealing her fate, Willow takes the win and advances to the semifinals.

Lela Star and Natalia Starr arrive with very different food backgrounds but similarly shaky confidence.

Lela grew up in a Cuban household full of flavor, though she’s more of an air fryer artist. Natalia grew up in Poland around fresh vegetables, but admits she’s more comfortable in packaged-salad territory.

Chef JoJo gives them a deceptively simple challenge: cacio e pepe with bucatini made from scratch.

Once the clock starts, it becomes clear neither contestant is ready for homemade pasta, forcing Chef JoJo to walk them through the basics step by step.

The energy in the kitchen stays surprisingly relaxed as Chef JoJo, Lela, and Natalia joke their way through homemade pasta chaos. But once the clock dips under ten minutes, both contestants start making risky decisions.

Lela loads her cacio e pepe with wine, sage, pepperoni, and heavy cream, while Natalia somehow pushes things even further by adding flour to her sauce. Chef JoJo visibly spirals watching both contestants drift farther and farther away from traditional cacio e pepe.

In the end, Lela’s well-cooked pasta and flavorful sauce win out over Natalia’s thick, paste-like creation.

Sinatra Monroe and Haley Reed enter Chef JoJo’s kitchen feeling unusually confident for a This Is Fire challenge.

Chef JoJo tasks them with making ricotta pancakes with blueberries and bratwurst, a combination that sounds strange enough to immediately throw everyone off balance.

Haley quickly abandons her pancake confidence under the pressure, while Sinatra tries to separate herself by adding lemon zest and extra flavor to her batter.

The semifinals begin with Willow Harper and Girthmasterr facing off for a spot in the finals.

Willow is coming off her signature ramen victory, while Girthmasterr barely survived the first round with his Korean fried chicken bao buns.

Willow immediately races for the only butternut squash in the pantry, forcing Girthmasterr to pivot to a honeynut squash inspired by his family’s pumpkin soup recipe.

While Girth settles into the challenge by basting his lamb with sage, rosemary, and butter, Willow spirals trying to figure out how to properly break down her cut of lamb.

Lela Star and Sinatra Monroe enter the semifinals after surviving the first round. Their reward? A delicate mussels challenge with white wine and chorizo.

Neither contestant has much seafood experience, which becomes obvious almost immediately as Chef JoJo fields a nonstop stream of questions from both sides of the kitchen.

Lela focuses on building flavor through her chorizo and toast points, while Sinatra wrestles with a watery wine sauce.

But the real source of Chef JoJo’s panic arrives when both contestants start reaching for heavy cream.

As the clock winds down, Lela struggles to balance reducing her sauce with properly cooking the mussels, while Sinatra sacrifices presentation to get everything onto the plate.

Chef JoJo praises Lela’s chorizo and toast points, but her sauce lacks seasoning and the mussels are slightly overcooked. Sinatra’s sauce also needs more reduction, but her mussels and chorizo completely win Chef JoJo over with both flavor and texture.

That strong seafood execution seals the deal, sending Sinatra to the finals and one step closer to the $20,000 grand prize.

The finals arrive with $20,000 on the line as Girthmasterr and Sinatra Monroe battle for the season 9 championship.

After surviving multiple rounds of kitchen chaos, both finalists now face Chef JoJo’s toughest challenge yet: lasagna and cannoli, both made in under 45 minutes.

The second the clock starts, the kitchen turns frantic. Sinatra begins building out her meat sauce while Girthmasterr focuses on his ragu, but an early mistake immediately throws Sinatra off course when she accidentally burns her butter.

Sinatra locks in on her lasagna while Girthmasterr plots psychological warfare by hiding Sinatra’s cannoli shells.

Unfortunately for Girth, karma hits fast when he forgets powdered sugar for his own dessert.

When judging begins, Chef JoJo is blown away by Sinatra’s lasagna, calling the execution nearly flawless, though her cannolis fall flat on flavor. Girthmasterr’s lasagna has a few issues with seasoning and texture, but his four different cannolis completely steal the show.

In one of the closest decisions of the season, Girthmasterr takes the win and is crowned the season 9 champion.