Cooking Competition TV Schedule, Fall 2026: Every Show, Night and Stream
Six networks and one streamer are running cooking competitions this fall, and almost none of them start on the same week. The grid below is the whole season on one screen; the reasoning behind it follows.
| Night | Show | Time (ET) | Where | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Halloween Wars, season 16 | 9 p.m. | Food Network | Sept. 13 |
| Monday | Halloween Baking Championship, season 12 | 9 p.m. | Food Network | Sept. 14 |
| Monday | Sweet Deceit: Trick or Treat | 10 p.m. | Food Network | Oct. 5 |
| Wednesday | MasterChef: Global Gauntlet finale | 8 p.m. | FOX | Sept. 9 and 16 |
| Wednesday | Guy's Grocery Games | 9 p.m. | Food Network | In season |
| Thursday | Hell's Kitchen, season 25 | 8 p.m. | FOX | Sept. 24 |
| Friday | The Great British Baking Show, Collection 14 | Weekly drop | Netflix | Not yet dated |
Which premiere dates are actually locked in?
Five of them. Food Network announced Halloween Wars for Sunday, Sept. 13 and Halloween Baking Championship for Monday, Sept. 14, both at 9 p.m. ET/PT. FOX has dated the Hell's Kitchen premiere as Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8/7c.
Sweet Deceit, a new game show hosted by Josh Peck, was announced on Sept. 3 for Monday, Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. Everything else on Food Network's weeknight schedule is library programming until the network says otherwise.
Why does Monday carry the most weight?
Because Food Network stacks its tentpole baking franchise there and then builds around it. From Sept. 14 the network holds 9 p.m. Mondays with Halloween Baking, adds a second hour at 10 p.m. from Oct. 5, and swaps the whole block to Holiday Baking Championship on Nov. 3.
That is three straight months of Monday-night dessert competition with no gap week. No other night in this schedule runs unbroken like that.
When does MasterChef end?
The Global Gauntlet season splits its finale across two Wednesdays. Part one airs Sept. 9 and part two on Sept. 16, both at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, with Heidi, Jake and Peter left standing and $250,000 on the table.
Gordon Ramsay judges alongside Tiffany Derry and Joe Bastianich. The season built its bracket around four regions tied to the cooks' heritage, which is why the trophy has been framed all summer as a World Cup rather than a cook-off.
What replaces it on FOX?
Nothing on Wednesday, at least not from the food slate. FOX moves its cooking hour to Thursday on Sept. 24, when Hell's Kitchen opens a 25th season with a field of chefs who are all 25 or younger.
Eighteen of them, split into the usual blue and red brigades. Our season 25 guide has the full roster with ages and home cities.
Where does the Bake Off land this year?
In an awkward spot for American viewers. Channel 4 brings the tent back in the UK in September, and Netflix has kept its habit of dropping each episode in the US days later on a Friday, but the streamer has not published a US start date for Collection 14.
What is confirmed is the shake-up: Nigella Lawson replaces Prue Leith at the judging table next to Paul Hollywood, with Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding still hosting. A first-ever Audience Choice Week comes from viewer submissions.
What does November look like?
Crowded. Food Network has promised more than 50 hours of holiday programming, and the dates arrive almost daily in the first week of the month.
- Sun. Nov. 2, 8 p.m. — Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, season three, with James and Oliver Phelps hosting.
- Mon. Nov. 3, 8 p.m. — Holiday Baking Championship, 12 bakers split into Naughty and Nice teams for the first time, Jesse Palmer hosting.
- Wed. Nov. 5, 8 p.m. — Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas, chefs in pairs, a $100,000 belt and $50,000 more for charity.
- Sun. Nov. 9, 9 p.m. — Sweet Empire: Winter Wars, a new dessert competition.
- Mon. Nov. 16, 9 p.m. — Sweet Deceit: Holiday, eight more double-stacked episodes.
How many new hours is that a week?
At the September peak, counting only new episodes, it is four: two on Food Network Sunday and Monday, one on FOX Thursday, one Netflix drop whenever it starts. By the first week of November that climbs to roughly seven.
Which is a polite way of saying the fall is front-loaded with Halloween and back-loaded with tinsel, and the middle of October is the quietest stretch you will get.
FAQ
Is Chopped back with new episodes? No new-season date has been announced. The Tuesday hour is running from the library for now.
Do Food Network shows stream the same night? They land the next day — the mechanics are in our streaming guide.
Is Halloween Wars the same show as Halloween Baking Championship? Different formats. Wars runs three-person teams of carvers, sugar artists and cake makers for $30,000; Baking Championship is 10 solo bakers for $25,000.
What time is Hell's Kitchen in the Central zone? 7 p.m., an hour earlier than the ET listing, as with everything on the FOX prime schedule.
Season detail for the two September premieres is in the Halloween Baking season 12 guide and the Hell's Kitchen guide above. Episode-by-episode results land in Baking Championships, Hell's Kitchen and Food Network Competitions as the seasons run, and the kit these kitchens are stocked with is broken down in Gear They Used.
Sources · Listings data via TVmaze · Food Network press release — Halloween Wars and Halloween Baking Championship · Food Network press release — Sweet Deceit · Food Network press release — holiday slate · FOX press release — Hell's Kitchen season 25 · What's on Netflix — Collection 14 release pattern