MasterChef Junior (U.S. season 3)

• Mystery Box Challenge:

The episode begins with all 19 kids (Jenna, Quincy, Andrew, Micah, Jimmy, Nathan, Mia, Philly, Kayla, Riley, Jack, A.J., Ryan Kate, Alexis, Parker, Jianna, Kyler, Cory, and Ayla) running into the MasterChef kitchen. The judges announce that their aprons are hidden in the pantry, and all the kids go and find them. When they return, the kids open their mystery boxes. They must create a restaurant quality dish using: salmon, mango, corn, broccolini, ginger, soy sauce, coconut milk, puff pastry, and tomatillos, as well as the staple pantry box. When they are done, the top three dishes are Jenna's coconut rice pudding with mango-mint compote, Jack's broiled salmon wrapped in Swiss chard and over a coconut fish broth, and lastly, despite accidentally cutting herself during cook time, Kayla's mango turnovers with coconut creme anglaise and mango coulis. In a surprise result, all three contestants end up winning the challenge as the judges felt it was such a close call that they couldn't choose one winner, and they go into the pantry with the judges to find out their advantage.

• Elimination Challenge:

The theme of the Elimination Challenge was Pasta. The three choices were Ravioli, Lasagna, and Pappardelle. Since Jenna, Jack, and Kayla won the mystery box challenge, not only that they're safe from elimination and don't have to participate in this challenge, they got to choose which pasta the other contestants got to make. Jenna, Jack, and Kayla chose the Pappardelle for the other contestants to cook. The top three dishes which received rave reviews were Andrew's bacon crème sauce Pappardelle; Ryan Kate's Pappardelle with tomato-mushroom basil sauce; and despite having troubles in the end, Jimmy's Pappardelle with vodka (no vodka) sausage sauce. Despite being the youngest contestant, Riley's Pappardelle with tomato-shallot sauce also received great reviews from the judges. AJ's Pappardelle with Mexican Oregano tomato sauce has uneven pasty and the flavors didn't work as the judges commented it was a "fusion confusion". Despite her confidence, Jianna's Pappardelle with pesto sauce has uneven cut and size on her pasta, which resulted in unevenly cooked pasta. Quincy's Pappardelle with tomato sauce was so overcooked that it tasted like "mush" and the sauce was a bit too spicy. Parker's Pappardelle with spicy Italian sausage was described by Joe as "boiled pasta with meat", due to Parker not serving a sauce. Philly's Pappardelle with red sauce tasted bland, as it lacked salt. In the end, all 5 aforementioned contestants were eliminated.

• Individual Challenge:

Since Andrew, Jimmy, and Ryan Kate had the best dishes from the previous challenge, they participated in this challenge, while the other contestants sat out. Andrew, Ryan Kate, and Jimmy had to whip up enough meringue for 12 lemon meringue pies. The first person to finish not only gets an advantage in the next challenge, but the winner gets to throw their pie with the most meringue either on Gordon, Graham, or Joe's face. In the end, Jimmy wins and gets to throw his pie onto Graham's face, much to Andrew's dismay.

• Team Challenge:

After Jimmy won the individual challenge, the contestants compete in a team challenge to make sausages and prepare them for the judges. Since Jimmy won the previous challenge, he got to choose the teams. Targeting Andrew for elimination, he pairs him with Cory, who he thinks over-complicates dishes and will bring his biggest competition down. He then asks Kyler to join him. The other teams consisted Mia and Jenna, Ayla and Riley, Jack and Nathan, Ryan Kate and Kayla, and Micah and Alexis. While cooking, Cory and Andrew still are deciding on a dish, and Cory keeps getting ingredients from the pantry, much to Andrew's frustration. The two continued to have severe disagreements during cooking and fragmented as a team. Most of the other team worked reasonably well together with little disagreements. In the end, Mia and Jenna's pork and chorizo sausage with sauerkraut and roasted potatoes received rave reviews for the dish's rustic charm and perfect seasonings, and they was declared as the winners of this team challenge. Despite the fact that Ayla and Riley had to rush to cook their sausage in the last 10 minutes due to forgetting to boil their water earlier, their English pork and sage sausage with mustard mashed potatoes and onion gravy was well liked by the judges. Jack and Nathan's veal and boar sausage with polenta and spinach, and Ryan Kate and Kayla's pork and venison sausage with sauteed vegetables and polenta were both well received by the judges. Three teams didn't fare so well. Micah and Alexis cooperate excellently, but their pork sausage with white bean and Swiss chard stew was not well-received as their sausage were only composed of lean meat and falls apart when cut and tasted bland, and moreover, the beans were undercooked and the stew lacked seasonings. Jimmy and Kyler's pork and kangaroo sausage with egg and fennel salad received decent reviews, but their use of kangaroo in their sausage was not too well received and their sausage was dry. Andrews and Cory's chorizo and pork sausage with spinach and spaetzle received poor reviews as their sausage is dry and the spinach is bland, and the judges express a lot of disappointment in their team work and overall performance during the challenge. Thereby, Micah and Alexis and Andrew and Cory were declared as the worst two teams. In the end, the judges send a teary-eyed Alexis and Micah home, much to Jimmy's disappointment. The judges warned Andrew and Cory to get their act together, or they will be sent home.

• Mystery Box Challenge: This week's Mystery Box contained ingredients "that gets better with age", which include dry aged New York strip steak, smoked salmon, black garlic, preserved lemons, Balsamic vinegar and blue cheese. The home cooks also get to contact their grandparents through Skype to draw inspirations from. The top three dishes were Jack's pan seared New York strip with cauliflower couscous and fennel salad, Riley's pan seared New York strip with smoky beef ramen broth, and Andrew's grilled New York strip with fennel salad and smashed potatoes. In the end, Andrew was declared as the winner of the Mystery Box.
• Elimination Challenge: As the winner of the Mystery Box, Andrew is immune from elimination. The theme for the elimination test is "scary reptiles", leading Andrew to question, " Is this really MasterChef Junior?" The choices are Joe's rattlesnake, Graham's snapping turtle, and Gordon's alligator. Andrew chose alligator. During cooking, Jimmy and Cory were confident, while Nathan and Kyler were nervous, never cooking alligator before. At the end of cooking, Jenna's Indian alligator curry with Jasmine rice and raita, Cory's alligator stir fry with fried egg, and Nathan's alligator chili with lime sour cream were deemed to be the best three dishes for perfect cook on their tender alligator and explosive flavors. On the other hand, despite his confidence in his dish, Kyler's grilled alligator with mushroom and pepper rice was panned for his very overcooked, tough alligator meat that Graham said that was like jerky. Mia's fried alligator tacos with watermelon salsa and chipotle mayo also suffered from the same problem that her alligator was really overcooked and tough. Lastly's Jimmy's alligator fajitas with guacamole also received less than decent reviews as his alligator was a little overcookd, though not as tough as Kyler's and Mia's, but most importantly the judges felt his dish was too simple and lacking enough finesse. In the end, Jimmy, Kyler, and Mia were announced as the bottom 3. The judges send Jimmy to safety, with him having a better dish than the other two, but he is warned to get a grip by Graham, leading to the teary elimination of Kyler and Mia, much to the other contestants' devastation.

• Individual Challenge: For winning the previous challenge, Cory, Nathan, and Jenna race to find the most ingredients in a pantry full of unlabeled items within 2 minutes. They are each given a list of 20 random items to find. Jenna wins the challenge by correctly finding 10 of the 20 items.
• Team Challenge: For winning the individual challenge, Jenna gets to pick the teams for the team challenge. She picks Kayla as her own teammate, then pairs Andrew with Riley, Ryan Kate with Nathan, Jack with Cory, and Jimmy with Ayla. The teams now compete in an hour-long tag-team challenge to cook the best sushi platter. Only one teammate can cook at a time; the other can only watch and give advice. Teammates swap roles with each other every ten minutes. Toward the end of the challenge, Andrew and Riley cooperate excellently with each other, while cooperation between Jenna and Kayla breaks down, much to both their annoyance. Jack and Cory also have trouble communicating, because Cory was making big mistakes with the sushi rolls, but Cory says if he makes them smaller, they are going to get eliminated, but Jack does not listen. Ultimately, Jimmy and Ayla win the team challenge, with Joe even telling them "It's the best sushi we've ever had, even including the adults." Andrew and Riley produce a great platter, but the ginger is too large. Ryan Kate and Nathan also produced a great platter, but has slight inconsistent cuts in their salmon and tuna and their rolls are a bit too big. However, Jack and Cory produce a underwhelming platter, with the only the roll being good, thanks to Jack, but Gordon says the rest isn't up to standard. Jenna and Kayla's sushi platter was a big disappointment by Joe, with their shrimp being too watery and everything being too large, leading to Jenna breaking into tears and Joe giving her a pep talk. Jenna, Kayla, Cory and Jack are at the bottom 4. Despite Jenna's continuous errors and Kayla's declining performances, Jack and Cory are eliminated for having the worst sushi platter of the night, along with their declining performances as competitors, much to the shock of the other contestants.

• Mystery Box Challenge: The top 8 home cooks must face their next mystery box challenge, which means impress the judges with restaurant quality banana dishes. At the end of the challenge, the top three dishes were Jenna's coconut shrimp with banana coconut puree and fruit salad, Nathan's macaroons with banana caramel filling, and Ryan Kate's Caribbean spiced pork with sweet potato hash and spicy banana sauce. After sampling all three dishes, the judges declared Nathan as the winner of the Mystery Box challenge.
• Elimination Challenge: Nathan was given immunity after winning the Mystery Box. The remaining contestants were required to make a salmon en route, with help from Matilda Ramsay, Gordon's daughter. In the last minutes, Jenna had a panic attack over her broke Hollandaise sauce, but Andrew came to her rescue. Jenna's dish was deemed to taste delicious and visually good, but Gordon advised her to keep her cool when under pressure and not panic unnecessarily as well as she didn't put enough Hollandaise sauce and there were way too many peas.Andrew's dish was deemed "perfection" by Joe. Kayla put too much pastry and too little salmon in her dish. Ayla's sauce was too hot, but her salmon was well done. Ryan Kate didn't fold her salmon properly, resulting in it being overcooked. Riley's pastry was raw, his potatoes lacked color, and his sauce was like "scrambled eggs", though the salmon was well cooked. Jimmy's salmon was well cooked and well seasoned. Andrew and Jimmy have the best dishes and are made team captains in the next challenge. Jenna and Ayla also did well enough to move on to the next round. The bottom 3 dishes belonged Kayla, Riley, and Ryan Kate. In the end, the judges decide to save Kayla once again, eliminating a teary-eyed Riley and Ryan Kate, much to the other contestants devastation. Before they leave, Gordon asks them who will become the next MasterChef Junior. Ryan Kate says Nathan will win the competition while Riley says Andrew or Jimmy will take the title. However, the judges tell Kayla to get it together after being in the bottom 3 for the second time in a row.

• Team Challenge: The contestants have to cook in the annual restaurant takeover. Because Andrew and Jimmy had the best dishes in the previous challenge, they're team captains, with Andrew getting first pick. Andrew chooses Nathan and Jenna for his blue team, and Jimmy chooses Ayla and Kayla for his red team. Each team must create appetizers and entrees for the customers who will not know that kids are cooking their food. While cooking, Andrew starts yelling at his teammates, much to Nathan's surprise as he finished his part of the appetizer in prep. Meanwhile, the red team is not communicating at all. On the blue team, Jenna starts burning the appetizer sides and ends up burning her hand, while Andrew tries to blow the fire out, which Gordon is infuriated by, leading to the point where Gordon tells him "you are just trying to show off." Andrew has to go outside for air. Once he comes back in, he tries to be nice to his team, in which they eventually start working hard. Once service starts, blue teams plates are flying out, while the red team is still working on the first table, mainly due to Kayla's indecisiveness and Ayla's slow preparation, and also because of Jimmy's messy work area. Meanwhile, Jenna becomes stressed under pressure, leading Gordon to give her a pep talk. In the entree service, Jenna starts burning all the chickpeas, much to Nathan's annoyance. Andrew struggles on green beans. Meanwhile, Ayla struggles on the grill with the portions, and eventually 2 customers walk out. In the end, it is a close call, but the blue team was deemed to take the win, sending Jenna, Andrew, and Nathan to the semifinals. The Red team is up for elimination, but only one will be safe. The judges save Jimmy, because he performed the best in the team challenge, leading to the tearful elimination of Ayla and Kayla, much to Jimmy's devastation. Before they leave, Kayla thinks Jimmy will win, while Ayla thinks that Nathan will win.

• Mystery Box Challenge: The remaining 4 contestants are faced with a challenge to make as many perfect sunny-side up eggs as they can. While cooking, Nathan's strategy is to just perfect the eggs, which Graham points out will ruin his chances. Andrew uses 2 burners instead of 1, with Gordon saying it is a smart move, but Jenna is having trouble with her eggs, burning. Jimmy and Andrew are neck- and neck. When cooking ends, Nathan finds out he has only cooked 1 perfect sunny-side up egg, much to his embarrassment. Jenna is also shocked that she only has 4. Jimmy plates 16 eggs, but only 8 were perfect. To beat Jimmy, Andrew needs 9 eggs, but he only has 4, giving Jimmy the win.
• Elimination Challenge: For the final elimination test, Jimmy is not safe from elimination. Instead, all 4 contestants have a large bucket of raspberries dumped on them. For winning the mystery box challenge, Jimmy gets to choose his and the other 3's raspberry dishes, ranging from easy to hard. 2 cooks will be sent home after this challenge. Targeting Nathan for elimination, he gives the raspberry tart to him, knowing it is the hardest dessert. He also gives Andrew the Raspberry Mousse, knowing he will struggle with it, leaving Jenna with the easiest dessert, the raspberry Napoleon, and Jimmy with the Raspberry Trifle. During cooking, Jimmy's strategy of giving Andrew the raspberry mousse seemed to pay off, because Andrew ends up making the mousse too sweet. At the end of cooking, Jimmy is called down. His trifle was great but was a bit soggy at the bottom. Andrew bounced back and made his raspberry mousse great, much to Gordon's awe because no professional chef could bounce back like that. Jenna's dish is somewhat criticized and the plating was dreadful, while the taste was OK, moreover the judges are shocked that Jenna had the easiest dessert but still performed poorly. Nathan's raspberry dessert wows the judges, much to Jimmy's dismay. The judges make Nathan the first finalist for having the best dish in the challenge. After some deliberation, the judges send Andrew to the final as well, leading to the elimination of a teary-eyed Jenna and Jimmy.

• Season Finale: In attendance for the finale are the families of Nathan and Andrew, and some of the other contestants from this season. The judges want the finalists to prepare and present a seamless, stylistic 3-course dinner in 90 minutes.
• Appetizer: Nathan makes roasted fennel and gruyere cheese au gratin topped with french ham and a side of shaved fennel and grapefruit cream salad. Andrew produces a home-made herbed ricotta cheese with roasted beets and pumpernickel bread.
• Entree: Nathan makes a herb crusted lamb chop with fresh morales and fava beans,shaved asparagus and white asparagus puree. Andrew produces a beef-cheek ravioli with a pan sauce and shaved parmesan cheese.
• Dessert: Nathan makes an Earl Grey tea and Meyer lemon Tart with candied orange peel, match pretzel and a side of blood orange coulis. Andrew produces a sweet arborio rice risotto with a verjus reduction and figs.
• Judges' Deliberations: It was a close call, but Graham, Gordon, and Joe ultimately decided that Nathan should be crowned MasterChef Junior, due to Andrew's beef being undercooked.
• Winner Revealed: Nathan is announced as the third MasterChef Junior winner, taking home the trophy and the $100,000 prize, making Andrew the third runner-up.