Claudia Sandoval was a contestant on Season 6 of MasterChef. She was the winner of that season and was awarded with the MasterChef trophy, a cookbook deal, and a salary of $250,000. She is also a judge on MasterChef Latino.
Personality[]
Claudia was seen to be a passionate cook since the beginning of the competition, and would often bring up her insane knowledge on Mexican cuisine. Despite a couple of mishaps, such as a poor chicken and waffles dish and a gross party platter made with Hetal, she consistently prepared dishes (mostly authentic Mexican) that pleased the judges and knocked the competition out, which ultimately finished in her winning the season. While she got along with almost everyone in the kitchen, specifically developing a strong friendship with Nick, she was shown to have a short-lived dislike for Shelly, as the latter left her in the steak pressure test for being a strong cook.
Season 6[]
Episode 1[]
Claudia was a part the first head-to-head battle of the season, and went against Andrew from South Carolina. The two each had to prepare shrimp in their special way. Claudia revealed herself to be an events manager from La Mesa, CA. She also said she was a single mom, and wanted to show her daughter that Latinos are an important part of society.
Claudia told the judges she was making camarones barbones al mojo de ajo which are head-on shrimp in a garlic butter sauce, over a grape pico and a white Mexican rice. Gordon liked the salsa and the perfectly cooked shrimp, and he felt the love in her food. Christina found the combination of flavors interesting, but the felt the presentation left more to be desired. Graham said the grape pico could use some salt to bring out the savory flavor, but the dish was tasty.
Although Christina enjoyed her shrimp, she felt the rice didn’t enhance the dish. Gordon disagreed, and chose Claudia as she nailed the shrimp. At first, Graham acted like he would give Andrew the apron, but then told Claudia she would have to stick around longer and handed her the apron. She ran out the kitchen and hugged her daughter while crying, saying fairytales don’t usually come true for people like her, and that getting the apron meant so much.
Episode 2[]
Episode 3[]
Claudia wasn’t seen much during the Ingredients from Home Mystery Box, and was not chosen to be a part of the Top 3. Later, she was one of the 12 contestants to be given an apple by Dan, meaning she did not have to compete in the Apple Pie Elimination Challenge.
Episode 4[]
Episode 5[]
Episode 6[]
Episode 7[]
Episode 8[]
Episode 9[]
Episode 10[]
Episode 11[]
Episode 12[]
Episode 13[]
Claudia was not seen much during the Flambé Mystery Box Challenge, and she was not called up as part of the Top 3.
During the Chicken and Waffles Elimination Challenge, Claudia revealed she was making cayenne and buttermilk fried chicken legs with lemon and thyme waffles. She said it was something she made with her munchkin at home, and wanted to make her proud. She was the third contestant to be called up and presented her dish with a citrus maple glaze sauce. Ramsay immediately commented terrible, like it had just come out a diner. Her chicken was still pink, and Ramsay told her she should've put a thigh that big into the oven as soon as it came out the fryer. He enjoyed the flavor of the breading, but called the waffles embarrassing and said they felt like his grandad's mattress. He thought back to some of her past dishes and asked if her she got lazy, to which she replied no and said she wished she had more time to add the garnishes. Ramsay asked her how she dared to ask for me time, when Derrick only had 30 minutes to cook, and said that her dish put her at the back of the line. When she went back to her station, Claudia said she was a dead Mexican walking, and didn't like feeling at the bottom for the first time.
Due to her lackluster dish, Claudia was called down to the Bottom 2, along with Shelly. Ramsay told her she had all the makings of continuing to be a very strong chef, and the judges were shocked to see her down there. Ultimately, Claudia remained safe as the judges believed Shelly could not go any further.
Episode 14[]
Episode 15[]
Episode 16[]
Episode 17[]
Episode 18[]
Episode 19[]
Episode 20[]
Competition History[]
| Week 3 | In/Immune |
|---|---|
| Week 4 | No Pressure Test |
| Week 5 | In/In |
| Week 6 | Pressure Test |
| Week 7 | In/In |
| Week 8 | Pressure Test |
| Week 9 | In/Immune |
| Week 10 | High/In |
| Week 11 | Win |
| Week 12 | Win |
| Week 13 | In/Low |
| Week 14 | Pressure Test |
| Week 15 | In/In |
| Week 16 | Win |
| Week 17 | Win/Immune |
| Week 18 | Pressure Test |
| Week 19 | Pressure Test |
| Week 20 | Winner |
Season 7[]
Episode 4[]
Claudia made an appearance as a guest at fellow Season 6 contestant Nick Nappi's wedding.
Episode 5[]
Claudia made an appearance alongside Aaron Sanchez to promote her new cookbook and to work besides the contestants with her Mexican Mystery Box.
Season 10[]
Episode 24/25[]
Post MasterChef[]
- After her appearance, Claudia released cookbook "Claudia's Cocina: A Taste of Mexico", launched catering business Claudia's Cocina, has been a brand ambassador for large brands, hosted cookery classes and online cookery classes with other MasterChef winners. Claudia became a judge on MasterChef Latino and planned to open El Cochi Dorado, a Mexican Bakery in June 2020.
Trivia[]
- She is the first ever Mexican-American winner in the show's history.
- She is the fifth female MasterChef winner and the first Hispanic, Mexican finalist on American version of the show.
- She has the fewest challenge wins of any winner, with just 4.
- She also has the fewest individual wins of any winner, with just 1.
- Prior to Dorian winning season 10, Claudia was tied with Courtney (Season 5), Shaun (Season 7), and Dino (Season 8) for fewest times on the bottom out of any winner, only being on the bottom of 1 challenge.
- She has survived the most Pressure Tests out of any winner, at 5.
- She has survived the second most Pressure Tests in the history of the show, just behind Leslie (Season 5) at 6.
- She is the third winner to be the first contestant in their season to win their apron, following Jennifer (Season 2) and Courtney (Season 5).
Quotes[]
- (To Gordon Ramsay) "I have the biggest crush on you chef"
- (After winning MasterChef) "Dreams come true and it doesn't matter where you come from. You can 100 million percent make something happen for yourself if you just dig really freaking deep and become the best version of you possible. This is gonna change our lives. Derrick is incredible; I have so much respect for him. He has been a front-runner from the beginning of the competition, he pushed me to be the chef that I am today. I am the first Latina MasterChef. Soy la merita chef."
- "I AM THE MASTERCHEF!!!!!!!!"
Gallery[]
Season 6[]
Season 7[]
Season 10[]
External links[]
Claudia Sandoval on Facebook- Claudia Sandoval on Instagram
- Claudia Sandoval on Twitter
References[]
| MasterChef U.S. Season 6 |
|---|
| Judges |
| Gordon Ramsay • Graham Elliot • Christina Tosi |
| Contestants |
| Justin Banister • Darah Carattini • Charlie Chapman • Veronica Cili • Dan Collado • Olivia Crouppen • Ailsa Von Dobeneck • Shelly Flash • Katrina Kozar • Stephen Lee • Christopher Lu • Mateo McConnell • Nick Nappi • Derrick Peltz • Kerry Prince • Jesse Romero • Amanda Saab • Claudia Sandoval • Hetal Vasavada • Tommy Walton • Brianna Watson • Sara Zacek |