Season 12 - Episode Guide

Sixteen of the worst cooks in America, including a sportscaster, a feisty granny and a professional balloon artist, arrive at boot camp with dreams of putting their kitchen nightmares behind them. Mentors Anne Burrelland Tyler Florence need to assess the level of disaster they're facing, so they ask the recruits to make their own specialty dishes -- and the results are worse than the chefs could have imagined! For the first main dish challenge, the mentors teach the recruits how to make the most important meal of the day, and the recruit on each team with the worst breakfast dish is sent home.

Mentors Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence introduce a game in which the recruits meet some magical and mysterious kitchen gadgets. The recruits become fast friends with the most important tool of all, a knife, to make fajitas while demonstrating their knife skills. Then boot camp transforms into a fish market, and the recruits get up close and personal with the catch of the day as they learn to fillet and prepare fish. The recruits who don't get along with their new friends end up sleeping with the fishes.

The Worst Cooks boot camp is transformed into a game show, Family Food, and the teams of recruits go head-to-head in trivia rounds and culinary tasks that test their knowledge. For the main dish challenge, they're finally ready to put down roots in the kitchen and learn about cooking vegetables. Some will make dishes that taste fresh from the garden, but some recruits will leave mentors Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence missing the meat.

It's game day at Worst Cooks boot camp, and the recruits must make varsity-worthy nachos inspired by different flavor profiles. They get into the game day spirit by competing in a game of cornhole to determine what flavor profile they will use. For the main dish challenge, mentors Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence teach their recruits how to make irresistible, stuffed burgers. The recruits step up to the plate and throw darts at a map to determine which of the 50 states will inspire their own craveable creations. The recruits who score touchdowns with their burgers will continue on, but those who fumble in the kitchen will be cut from their teams.

The recruits are halfway through boot camp and learn what to do with all the leftovers they are sure to have now that they have gained some culinary skills. The recruits play a taste and describe game, "What's in My Mouth - Leftover Edition" and create new dishes from common leftover ingredients. For the main dish challenge, Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence leave the recruits alone in boot camp for the first time and ask them to make pizza from scratch. During the blind taste test, some pizzas impress the Chefs, while others leave them calling for the delivery guy.

It's Valentine's Day and love is in the air at boot camp. A prancing cupid finds his way into the kitchen and the recruits learn how to make sweets for their sweeties. First, the recruits have to test their ability to whip cream - over their Chef's head- and create molten chocolate cakes. For the main dish challenge, the recruits have to make a swoon-worthy multi-component dessert to win over Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence's affection. In the end, the romance will be over for two of them and the Chefs will each have to break up with one of their recruits.

Each team is given a scrambled recipe and the recruits have to work together to figure out the correct order and make the recipe. The Chefs tell the recruits they are being left alone in boot camp, but unbeknownst to them, Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence secretly watch their every move over CCTV. For the main dish challenge, the recruits learn the truth of sausage making. The tasting will be a potluck dinner, so the recruits must make sausages that impress both the Chefs and their fellow recruits or risk being eliminated.

The remaining recruits are put to the test by playing "Remote Control Chef," in which they must taste a dish put in front of them and describe it to Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence to recreate. For the main dish challenge the recruits tackle their most difficult task yet, making fresh pasta from scratch. The recruits have the guidance of two very special guests to help them with their cooking, Italian nonnas with years of pasta making experience. The top recruits earn a spot in the semi-finals next week.

The final four recruits learn the art of showing off as they compete to represent Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence in the finale. First, they learn some fancy bartending tricks and must make happy hour cocktails and bar snacks for Anne and Tyler. For the main dish challenge, Anne and Tyler have invited some very special guests to boot camp - the recruits' loved ones. The recruits are tasked with cooking a dish and performing a flashy tableside demonstration for their guests. After, Anne and Tyler decide which recruits will represent them in next week's finale for a chance to win $25,000.

The final two recruits face off in the ultimate challenge: cooking a three-course, restaurant quality meal for a panel of culinary experts. Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence coach their recruits from the sidelines, but it all comes down to the skills that the recruits have learned over the past ten weeks. Judges Paulette Goto, Jordan Andino and Michael Chernow taste the recruits' dishes in a blind taste test and determine the winner of the $25,000 prize.