Parents' Guide to Recipe for Disaster

TV CW Game Shows 2023
Recipe for Disaster TV show poster: three hosts protect themselves from massive food splatter

Common Sense Media Review

Marty Brown By Marty Brown , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 8+

Slapdash game show puts chefs through the wringer.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 8+

Based on 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

RECIPE FOR DISASTER pairs professional chefs with their loved ones in a friendly cooking competition. The twist is that, in addition to making the perfect bite, chefs must also deal with surprises that may destroy their dish. It's part cook-off, part obstacle course.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say : Not yet rated

Rarely has a show seemed so thrown together at the last minute. Recipe for Disaster asks the question, "What if Chopped, but with random things constantly falling from the ceiling into the food?" The challenges are insultingly simple, but there's also very little pretense that the contestants are even trying to make something good. The obstacles occasionally look fun, but mostly easily avoided (e.g., just cover the food). Most of the time they're just variations on the same theme -- one episode drops "blood" from above, then water, then toy spiders. And the contestants have so little charisma that the editors don't let them speak more than a sentence or two at a time. There's not even a real prize! The biggest thing this show has going for it is how perfect the name is.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about teamwork. What are some strategies the teams used? Who was most successful at working together? How did they overcome obstacles?

  • What sort of specific skills do you think are needed to win this competition? How would you approach it? Who would you want to cook with?

TV Details

  • Premiere date : August 5, 2023
  • Cast : Ann Pornell
  • Network : CW
  • Genre : Game Shows
  • Topics : Cooking
  • TV rating : TV-PG
  • Last updated : September 18, 2025

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Recipe for Disaster TV show poster: three hosts protect themselves from massive food splatter

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