This Is Fire Season 5 Recap

Mia Malkova and Lexi Luna kick off season five with a deceptively difficult classic: gourmet burgers and fries. Chef Jojo makes it clear there are no shortcuts this time, forcing both contestants to grind their own meat from scratch.

Lexi moves quickly but runs into trouble after overloading her burger mixture with egg, sending her into recovery mode midway through prep. 

Mia takes a slower, more methodical approach, though Chef Jojo worries she’s spending too much time perfecting her patties while the rest of the plate falls behind.

Elly Clutch and Adria Rae step into the kitchen for a pad thai challenge that quickly turns into a balancing act between control and chaos. 

While Elly carefully builds her dish piece by piece, Adria leans fully into instinct, piling on sauce and seasoning from the start.

Adria feels confident cooking chicken but struggles more with the tofu, while Elly focuses on recreating the flavors from some of her favorite past pad thai dishes.

Hayley Davies and Adam22 take on Mexican street food with the freedom to choose both their protein and final dish. 

Despite the open-ended challenge, both contestants land on quesadillas, setting up an unexpected head-to-head battle. As a vegetarian, Hayley feels out of her element cooking chicken for the first time, while Adam bets heavily on his steak knowledge.

Hayley focuses on balancing her filling with beans and onions while refining her salsa and presentation. Across the kitchen, Adam sticks to a more classic steak-and-cheese approach.

Alexis Fawx and Vanna Bardot take on shrimp scampi in one of the cleanest and most organized kitchen battles Chef Jojo has seen on This Is Fire. 

The calm doesn’t last forever, though, especially after Vanna accidentally dumps an entire container of red pepper flakes into her sauce.

Both contestants run into trouble with their pasta choices. Vanna sticks with dry linguine while Alexis gambles on fresh pasta in hopes of saving time, but neither fully nails the texture they’re after.

The semifinals begin with Hayley Davies and Elly Clutch facing one of the most intimidating dishes of the season: Wagyu Katsu Sando with a perfect ruby-red center.

 Elly enters feeling confident after learning Hayley has never cooked red meat before, but that confidence quickly unravels once her grill bursts into flames mid-challenge.

Things only get messier when Elly accidentally places her panko-coated wagyu back onto the grill instead of into the fryer. Across the kitchen, Hayley quietly finds momentum as Chef Jojo praises the golden crust developing on her sandwich.

Fresh off their first-round wins, Mia Malkova and Vanna Bardot enter the semifinals with plenty of confidence and a shot at the season five finale on the line. 

Chef Jojo tasks them with chicken wings and beer-battered onion rings, a challenge that quickly becomes more difficult once both realize they have almost no frying experience.

Mia works quickly but constantly questions her own decisions, while Vanna stays focused on seasoning and presentation. Timing issues and inconsistent batter force both contestants to improvise.

Mia Malkova and Hayley Davies battle for the season five crown with one of the most technical dishes yet: grilled octopus paired with creamy risotto. 

Hayley leans into rich mushroom flavors while Mia builds a more herb-forward plate with basil, thyme, and rosemary.

As the risottos slowly come together, Hayley gains confidence while sautéing mushrooms in butter. 

Meanwhile, Mia starts spiraling after accidentally over-seasoning her sauce.

Season Four Champion Luna Star returns to defend her title against newly crowned champion Hayley Davies. Their challenge? Jambalaya, a Creole classic neither of them has ever cooked before.

Rice will take the longest, both chefs start there before splitting into very different rhythms. Luna focuses heavily on vegetables and seasoning while Hayley works through her meat and crawfish prep. 

The pressure peaks late in the challenge when Luna burns her hand on a cast-iron skillet and accidentally shatters a glass while racing to finish plating.