Hell’s Kitchen: The 10 Best Chefs, Ranked By Skill Level

Cooking show Hell’s Kitchen may be famous for chef Gordon Ramsay’s outbursts and insults, but the series has also produced some impressive culinary moments. Winners of the show, which has been running for 19 seasons on Fox since 2005, are rewarded with dream jobs in the restaurant business, working in top eateries in Las Vegas, New York, and even London, as well as a cash prize of $250,000.

The impressive chefs on this list all won their respective series of Hell’s Kitchen and are generally thought to be the best contestants that the show has seen in its 15 years on the air.

10 Kimberley-Ann Ryan

Kimberley-Ann Ryan entered Hells’ Kitchen to create a better life for her daughter and she proved that family is a strong motivator when she won the series and a head chef position at The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Ryan had her struggles throughout the series, with Ramsay challenging her to “find her voice”.

While her cooking was always of a high standard, her ability to lead the kitchen was something that she had to develop throughout the various challenges.

9 Danny Veltri

As one of the youngest winners of Hell’s Kitchen, Danny Veltri felt that he had a lot to prove to some of the more established chefs. This could often come across as arrogance, especially in the earlier episodes of season 5, but once he settled down and focused on his cooking he and chef Ramsay finally stopped butting heads, and he was chosen as the winner.

When his Atlantic City head chef prize was relegated to a sous chef position, Veltri decided to set up business on his own instead.

8 Dave Levey

Widely considered to be the most popular Hell’s Kitchen winner, Dave Levey took the top prize in season 6. Amazingly, he continued to compete despite breaking his wrist early in filming and having to cook one-handed for the rest of the season.

If he could win such a challenging cooking contest with essentially one hand tied behind his back, then imagine how good he would have been if he’d been able to use both hands! He was also disappointed when his head chef prize turned out to be just a line cook position.

7 Ariel Contreras-Fox

Ariel Contreras-Fox first appeared on Hell’s Kitchen in season 6 when she finished in third place but returned for season 18 which pitted HK veterans against a team of rookies.

Chef Ramsay was full of praise for how much Contreras-Fox had improved in the ten years since she first appeared on the show. She turned down the prize – an executive chef position at Ramsay’s restaurant in Caesar’s Palace – but was a magnanimous winner, saying that she would be happy to offer fellow finalist Mina a job if she ever had an opening.

6 Meghan Gill

Chef Ramsay was full of praise for Meghan Gill, the winner of season 14 of Hell’s Kitchen, complimenting her determination and passion, as well as her “amazing palate.”

She certainly created some impressive dishes on her time in the kitchen, as well as showing the kind of tough discipline that Ramsay himself would have been proud of! Meghan’s reward for winning the series was a job at chef Ramsay’s restaurant at Caesars Atlantic City, and she has continued to work at the very highest level ever since.

5 LaTasha McCutchen

LaTasha McCutchen was another young chef who Gordon Ramsay praised for her palate and her ability to mix and match flavors. She enjoyed an impressive run on the way to winning the top prize in season 13 of Hell’s Kitchen, getting to the final without ever being nominated for elimination.

As well as her consistency, LaTasha was also a real team player, something of a rarity on reality TV competitions, backing up her colleagues when mistakes were made keeping everyone’s spirits up when things went wrong.

4 Michelle Tribble

Like Ariel Contreras-Fox, Michelle Tribble also needed two bites of the Hell’s Kitchen cherry before she secured her win. After finishing third in season 14, Tribble returned to the show in season 17 when she was joined by other former contestants in an All-Star special.

Beating a group of determined and experienced chefs, many of whom had only improved since they were last on the show, was an impressive achievement for Michelle, whose prize was the head chef position at Ramsay’s restaurant in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.

3 Christina Machamer

When she first started on season 4, Christine Machamer was just 25-years-old and one of the least experienced chefs in Hell’s Kitchen that year.

Despite being at a professional disadvantage, she worked hard and took on board every lesson chef Ramsay dished out, before taking what would have been a surprise win as the start of the series. Machamer has since made a career move from food to wine, managing a vineyard in Napa Valley, but she has made a few appearances on Hell’s Kitchen as a guest diner.

2 Scott Commings

Season 12 winner Scott Commings was not only a great chef, but he also had a real eye for detail when it came to plating up dishes. It is a well-known culinary fact that diners eat with their eyes, so this was a skill that Gordon Ramsay was always quick to praise.

Commings faced a few tricky moments throughout his season on HK, but he showed grit and determination to fight back and take the top prize – a job at the Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill in Caesar’s Palace.

1 Christina Wilson

Hell’s Kitchen has generally concluded that Christina Wilson is the best chef to ever appear on the show – and it seems that Gordon Ramsay agrees with them, as Wilson has been a long-time collaborator of his since she won the show in season 10.

She has appeared in other Ramsay TV shows, as well as being invited back to appear on HK as a sous chef for the teams on three occasions, eventually becoming an executive chef for all of Ramsay’s Las Vegas restaurants.