Quick answer: Nine seasons of MasterChef India have aired in Hindi since 2010. Pankaj Bhadouria won the first in 2010, and brothers Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe from Nagpur won the most recent, season 9, on 6 March 2026 – the first season ever contested in pairs.
MasterChef India inspired from the Australia & British MasterChef version show, and the concept became extremely popular around the world. The show has given several people a chance to prove that they are the best when it comes to cooking food in the country.
The MasterChef participants also got attention from the big-time restaurants and a chance to become the main chef in the restaurants.
MasterChef India winners at a glance
- Seasons aired: 9 in Hindi, from 2010 to 2026
- First winner: Pankaj Bhadouria, season 1, 2010
- Latest winners: Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe, season 9, 6 March 2026
- Broadcasters: StarPlus for seasons 1–6, then Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLIV from season 7
- Longest-serving judge: Vikas Khanna
- Other editions: two Tamil seasons, two Telugu seasons and a Junior MasterChef India in 2013
MasterChef India winners list: all 9 seasons
Every Hindi-language winner and runner-up, with the years each season ran and the channel it aired on. The broadcaster column matters more than it looks: the show changed homes after season 6, which is why the gap in the middle of this table is so wide.
| Season | Year | Winner | Runner-up | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 | Pankaj Bhadouria | Jayanandan Bhaskar | StarPlus |
| 2 | 2011-12 | Shipra Khanna | Salma Shazia Fathima | StarPlus |
| 3 | 2013 | Ripudaman Handa | Navneet Rastogi | StarPlus |
| 4 | 2015 | Nikita Gandhi | Neha Deepak Shah | StarPlus |
| 5 | 2016 | Kirti Bhoutika | Ashima Arora | StarPlus |
| 6 | 2019-20 | Abinas Nayak | Oindrila Bala | Star Plus / Hotstar |
| 7 | 2023 | Nayanjyoti Saikia | Santa Sarmah | Sony TV / SonyLIV |
| 8 | 2023 | Mohammed Ashiq | Nambie Marak | SonyLIV |
| 9 | 2026 | Ajinkya & Vikram Gandhe | Chandana & Sai Sri Rachakonda | Sony TV / SonyLIV |
Seasons 7 and 8 both aired in 2023 – season 7 from January to March, and season 8 from October to December, streaming on SonyLIV. That is the only year the show has produced two seasons.
MasterChef India Winners List of All Seasons From 1 To 9
The show produced by the Colosceum Media Pvt. Ltd. and the Star Plus channel agreed to broadcast it. The judges travel across India to find the best chef, and they select 50 contestants.
Every week, the contestants have to go through a variety of tests, and then they have to secure a spot in top 12 to perform in the finals. However, MasterChef India Winners can only be one that claims the prize title, money, and fame.
MasterChef India Season 1 Winner – Pankaj Bhadouria (Year: 2010)
The first-ever MasterChef India broadcasted in Star Plus channel on 16 October 2010. The show had so many contestants that had no chef backgrounds. However, no one can deny that Chefs had a passion for the cooking and Pankaj was one of them. Bhadouria is the winner of first-ever MasterChef India.
She is one of the prime examples of becoming a successful cook in the country after winning the show. Pankaj is a schoolteacher, and the chef left the 15-year old job to participate in the cooking show.
The first-ever winner of the cooking show went on establishing a Culinary Academy, and it was a successful venture to this date.
- The Brand Knorr- Cup a soup, Soups, and Noodles announced that Pankaj is the next brand ambassador. She got to work with actor Kajol in the same brand, and it was one of the successful campaigns on television.
- The south popular spice brand Eastern Masala also endorse her.
- Bhadouria worked with bigger brands like Samsung, Taaza Tea, Kent, Kellogs, Tefal, and more.
- The Spanish government offered her “Olive Oil in India” brand endorsement, and she accepted it.
The female cook established an identity that inspires married or working women to come out of the comfort zone and fulfill their dreams.
Pankaj started to work on nine other television shows related to the cooking. The last project aired on Living Foodz and the show name is “Dream Kitchen.”
MasterChef India Season 2 Winner – Shipra Khanna (Year: 2011–12)
The MasterChef India found the next winner of the second season Khanna and she born on 17 November 1981. Shipra had an interesting journey after she won the nationwide popular cooking show. The chef accepted to host the “Kitchen Stars ka Safar” on Star Plus.
She won several awards for the passion & love for cooking including “Best Cook Book” award for “Sinfully Yours” at the 2017 World Gourmand Awards held in China. The chef also got an offer to inaugurate the Le Cordon Blue, Paris restaurant.
Shipra hosted a cooking show on the television and the only show in the country that based on the desserts. Himachali of the Year journey boomed after winning the prestigious cooking show in the world.
MasterChef India Season 3 Winner – Ripudaman Handa (Year: 2013)
Daman is a young talented chef, and he won the title MasterChef India season three in 2013. The Handa started to cook at a young age for his mother and sister-in-law.
The chef started to cook at home because the mother was too tired to prepare the meals for the family. He uses to prepare chapatis for the Gurudwara because Daman wanted to make perfect rotis.
The chef is known for preparing and cooking oil-free food. The term “healthy food” shined in his dishes and many people prefer his food because it was oil-free & tasty.
Currently, Ripu following the passion for cooking and spreading love all over the world. Daman is the only male chef who took the title MasterChef to home, and rest of the winners are female.
MasterChef India Season 4 Winner – Nikita Gandhi (Year: 2015)
Gandhi is the fourth season winner, and it is the best thing happened to her in life. Nikita brought up in Abu Dhabi, UAE and she participated in the MasterChef S4 in 2015.
Gandhi started to cook at an early age, and the mother taught her everything she knows about cooking in the kitchen. The chef tried to prepare the Rasgoola several times, but she never got it right. Nikita blessed with a boy, and she is focusing on her life right now.
MasterChef India Season 5 Winner – Kirti Bhoutika (Year: 2016)
Bhoutika is the youngest contestant that won the title of MasterChef India. She is a passionate cook that loves to bake & prepare sweets. At the age of 20, Kriti was able to start a home-based bakery by the name SugarPlum Cakery.
The internet sources like cooking sites, YouTube, and books taught her cooking and Bhoutika self-learned everything. The chef won the show by preparing a complicated sweet dish that includes lychee berry mousse, winter-spiced berry coulis, aero chocolate mousse, frozen meringue, orange sable cookie, grilled figs, chocolate brownie, and chocolate spiral.
The S5 winner currently working on start-up Sugar Plum Cakery and she is the founder of the bakery located in Kolkata.
MasterChef India Season 6 Winner – Abinas Nayak (Year: 2019–20)
MasterChef India Season 6 premiered on 7 December 2019 on Star Plus. It ran until 1 March 2020 and was judged by Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Vineet Bhatia, with episodes streaming on Hotstar. Abinas Nayak, an IT analyst from Odisha, won the season, and Oindrila Bala from West Bengal finished as runner-up.
MasterChef India Season 7 Winner – Nayanjyoti Saikia (Year: 2023)
After a gap of almost three years, MasterChef India returned on 2 January 2023, this time on Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLIV rather than Star Plus. Nayanjyoti Saikia from Assam won the grand finale on 31 March 2023, taking home prize money of Rs 25 lakh, with Santa Sarmah finishing as first runner-up.
Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar returned to judge, joined by Garima Arora in place of Vineet Bhatia. The season ran to 70 episodes across 65 days, the longest run the show has had.
MasterChef India Season 8 Winner – Mohammed Ashiq (Year: 2023)
The eighth season followed unusually quickly, premiering on 16 October 2023 and finishing on 8 December 2023 – the only time two seasons have aired in the same calendar year. It streamed on SonyLIV, with twelve contestants across 40 episodes.
Mohammed Ashiq from Mangalore in Karnataka won, with Nambie Marak as runner-up. Pooja Dhingra joined Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar on the panel, replacing Garima Arora. For Khanna it was a seventh consecutive season as a judge.
MasterChef India Season 9 Winners – Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe (Year: 2026)
Season 9 changed the format for the first time in the show’s history: instead of individuals, contestants competed in jodis, pairs who cooked together. Twelve pairs, 24 cooks in all, competed across 45 episodes from 5 January to 6 March 2026.
Cafe owners and brothers Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe from Nagpur won, cooking regional Indian food with contemporary plating. The mother-and-daughter pair Chandana and Sai Sri Rachakonda from Hyderabad were first runners-up, and sisters Anju and Manju Ojha from Odisha came third. Kunal Kapur returned as a full-time judge for the first time since season 5, alongside Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar, with Paritosh Tripathi hosting.
Junior Masterchef Swaad Ke Ustaad (2013): Sarthak Bhardwaj
Sarthak is the winner of the Junior MasterChef aired in 2014. The 13-year-old boy took twenty lakhs home after deduction of six lakhs (TAXES). Unfortunately, Bhardwaj struggling to go to school and the Government neglected the young chef. The young chef mother is the bread earner of the house because Sarthak’s father passed away years ago.
According to the news published by the Times of India, the mother struggling to provide two meals a day to the young chef. Bhardwaj wants to go to abroad to complete the Hotel Management education.
Note: We cannot confirm the news about the Sarthak.
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Who judges MasterChef India?
The judging panel has turned over more often than the format has, and only one name runs through most of it.
- Season 1 (2010) was judged by Akshay Kumar, Kunal Kapur and Ajay Chopra – the only season with a film star on the panel.
- Season 5 (2016) brought in Kunal Kapur and Zorawar Kalra.
- Season 6 (2019–20) was judged by Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Vineet Bhatia.
- Season 7 (2023) kept Khanna and Brar, with Garima Arora replacing Bhatia.
- Season 8 (2023) kept Khanna and Brar, with Pooja Dhingra in her first season. It was Khanna’s seventh consecutive season and Brar’s fourth.
- Season 9 (2026) kept Khanna and Brar and brought Kunal Kapur back full time for the first time since season 5.
Vikas Khanna is the through-line. He has judged every season from the sixth onwards and appeared earlier in the show’s run as well, which makes him the face of MasterChef India in the same way the winners rarely are.
Other MasterChef India editions
The Hindi seasons are not the whole franchise, and the regional editions have their own numbering and their own champions.
- MasterChef Tamil has run for two seasons.
- MasterChef Telugu has also run for two seasons.
- Junior MasterChef India – Swaad Ke Ustaad aired in 2013 and was won by Sarthak Bhardwaj, covered further down this page.
MasterChef India is an adaptation of the British MasterChef format, which has spawned versions in dozens of countries. If you follow cooking competitions more broadly, our Great British Bake Off winners list covers the other long-running series of that kind.
MasterChef India records and things worth knowing
- Only year with two seasons: 2023, when season 7 ran January to March and season 8 October to December.
- Longest gap between seasons: almost three years, between season 6 finishing in March 2020 and season 7 premiering in January 2023.
- First win by a pair: season 9 in 2026, when the format switched to jodis and brothers Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe took the title.
- First winner became a chef-educator: Pankaj Bhadouria, the 2010 champion, left a teaching career to enter the show and went on to run her own culinary academy.
- Longest season: season 7 in 2023, at 70 episodes over 65 days.
- Broadcaster switch: the show moved from StarPlus to Sony Entertainment Television between seasons 6 and 7.
Is there a MasterChef India season 10?
No tenth Hindi season has been announced. Season 9 concluded on 6 March 2026 with the Gandhe brothers winning, so as of September 2026 they are the reigning champions and the jodi format is the most recent version of the show viewers have seen.
This page will be updated with the season 10 winner once a new season is confirmed and completed.
MasterChef India winners: frequently asked questions
Who won MasterChef India 2026?
Brothers Ajinkya and Vikram Gandhe from Nagpur won MasterChef India season 9. The finale aired on 6 March 2026, with the mother-daughter pair Chandana and Sai Sri Rachakonda from Hyderabad as first runners-up and sisters Anju and Manju Ojha from Odisha second.
Who won MasterChef India season 6?
Abinas Nayak, an IT analyst from Odisha, won season 6. The season ran from 7 December 2019 to 1 March 2020 on Star Plus, with Oindrila Bala from West Bengal finishing as runner-up.
How many seasons of MasterChef India are there?
Nine seasons of the Hindi version have aired between 2010 and 2026. There have also been two Tamil seasons and two Telugu seasons, plus a Junior MasterChef India edition in 2013.
Why was there a gap between MasterChef India season 6 and season 7?
Season 6 ended on 1 March 2020 and season 7 did not premiere until 2 January 2023, a gap of almost three years. The show also changed broadcaster in that time, moving from Star Plus to Sony Entertainment Television.
Who are the judges of MasterChef India?
The panel has changed most seasons, but Vikas Khanna has been the constant. Season 8 was his seventh consecutive season as a judge. Ranveer Brar has judged since season 6, and the third seat has passed between Vineet Bhatia, Garima Arora, Pooja Dhingra and Kunal Kapur.
What was different about MasterChef India season 9?
It was the first season contested in pairs rather than by individuals. Twelve jodis, 24 cooks in total, competed across 45 episodes, and the winning pair were brothers.
Which channel shows MasterChef India?
Seasons 1 to 6 aired on StarPlus, with season 6 also streaming on Hotstar. From season 7 the show moved to Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLIV, where season 8 streamed exclusively and seasons 7 and 9 aired on television as well.
Conclusion
The MasterChef India season five aired in 2016 and the producers of the show have not decided to prepare for the season six. Let us know what do you think about the MasterChef India winners in the comment section below.
