Cannabis Is the Secret Ingredient in 'Chopped 420'
As marijuana laws continue to loosen and evolve across the country, the intersection of cooking with cannabis is becoming increasingly common. And now, one of the most popular cooking competitions on television will put its own indica-and-sativa-laced spin on things when Chopped 420 premieres this spring on Discovery+.
Yes, it's an official spinoff of the Food Network show that pits four chefs in a three-course elimination challenge to impress a panel of judges with their use of four mystery ingredients in each round until one chef is declared the winner and awarded $10,000. Chopped 420 is no different, with the notable exception that each episode will be one hour long and, oh yeah, THC will be used in every course.
Hosting the limited-run series will be comedian and marijuana enthusiast Ron Funches. The panel of judges will include "chef Esther Choi, drag performer and cannabis activist Laganja Estranja, chef Luke Reyes, chef Sam Talbot, and comedian Tacarra Williams," according to the announcement. The entire series will be available to stream on Discovery+ on April 20, of course.
Chopped 420 joins a handful of marijuana-infused cooking competitions, including Netflix's Cooking on High and Cooked with Cannabis, and VICE's Bong Appetit: Cook-Off.
Related: The Food & Wine Guide to Culinary Cannabis
But that's not the only Chopped spin-off on the horizon: On May 25, Discovery+ will launch a five-episode series called Chopped Next Gen that will feature up-and-coming Gen-Z chefs. And on Food Network, we'll soon get the five-episode series Chopped: Martha Rules which will feature curveballs thrown by judge Martha Stewart, who joined the series in 2018. The hour-long episodes take a step out of the Chopped kitchen with the chefs cooking outdoors in Kennebunkport, Maine. Sixteen contestants will compete in heats to enter the finals, where a $50,000 payday awaits the grand prize winner.
