Top Chef Masters season 5

The fifth season of Top Chef Masters premiered on July 24, 2013, with 13 award-winning chefs competing in weekly challenges to win the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity and the title of "Top Chef Master". Gail Simmons appeared as the new head critic for the competition. In addition, Lesley Suter, the food and dining editor for Los Angeles Magazine, joined the judging panel alongside James Oseland, Ruth Reichl, and Francis Lam.

Each Top Chef Masters contestant had their sous-chef compete in a series of separate challenges called the "Battle of the Sous Chefs". Hosted by regular Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson, the results of each webisode directly impacted the competitors of the main competition. The winner of each round rewarded their respective head chef with immunity from elimination, while the sous-chefs with the lowest performances earned them a disadvantage, such as less time to prep or shop for ingredients.