Meet Chopped Castaways judge Maneet Chauhan, who once beat Guy Fieri’s chefs twice on TV
She's worked with some huge names
Maneet Chauhan is bringing serious culinary royalty to Chopped Castaways. The new Food Network spin-off throws chefs into intense cooking challenges with a survivalist twist, and honestly, there could not be a more qualified judge than Maneet.
If you’ve watched literally any Food Network competition over the last few years, chances are you’ve already seen her. Beyond her iconic judging style, Maneet Chauhan has had one of the most impressive careers in the entire food TV universe.
Born in Ludhiana, Punjab in 1976, Maneet trained at one of India’s top culinary and hotel management schools, where she graduated at the top of her class. She then moved to the US to study at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where she picked up even more honours.
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Since then, she’s worked as a chef across Chicago, New York and Nashville, eventually building a mini restaurant empire of her own. She now owns four restaurants, which is already more than enough to make the rest of us feel lazy.
TV is where a lot of people know her from. Maneet became a regular judge on Chopped, where she built a reputation for being brutally honest while still somehow sounding incredibly polite about it. She also made history as the only Indian woman to ever compete on Iron Chef America, where she went up against legendary chef Masaharu Morimoto, who also happened to be one of her idols.
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Because all of that apparently wasn’t enough, she’s also dominated Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions, winning the whole thing in both 2021 and 2024. So when Maneet critiques someone’s cooking on Chopped Castaways, she definitely knows what she’s talking about.
Away from television, she’s also an author and has written multiple cookbooks including Flavors of My World: A Culinary Tour Through 25 Countries, The Journey, and Chaat: Recipes from the Kitchens, Markets, and Railways of India.
Maneet married restaurateur Vivek Deora in 2007, and the pair live in New York City with their daughter.
Basically, if Chopped Castaways contestants see Maneet Chauhan looking disappointed, they should probably start panicking immediately.
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