Inventive Energy Pushes Flavor Forward

After weeks of testing, tasting and refining, Kitchen Collaborative 2026 chefs have submitted hundreds of next-level menu ideas built around high-impact ingredients from sponsor partners. The kitchens are now closed, and the search to identify the top concepts is in the hands of those partners. They will select 13 winners to experience an unforgettable culinary expedition to Mendoza, Argentina, later this year.

Kitchen Collaborative participants received two curated kits of sponsor products. Flavor & The Menu has already featured a half-dozen ways chefs turned up the heat using items in the frozen/refrigerated kit. Following are six more examples, this time showcasing their culinary prowess using a variety of shelf-stable items. These include products from: Barilla for Professionals, Kikkoman, Lee Kum Kee, Lentils.org and the National Watermelon Promotion Board. To preserve the integrity of the blind-judging process, the names of the chefs behind these flavor-forward creations have been withheld.

1. Hot Honey Chili Crisp Babka Buns

“Hot honey and chili crisp are two of the most versatile flavors and have been trending like crazy right now,” says the chef behind this dish of the difficulty in narrowing down all the possible uses of the Chili Crisp Hot Honey Sauce from Lee Kum Kee. In these babka buns, the sauce is combined with butter to spread across the flat dough, before it is rolled and braided. It’s also the heart of a simple syrup that’s poured over the bread when it’s fresh out of the oven. “The signature twists and turns of babka make it the perfect vehicle for the sauce, which weaves itself through every bite, delivering a bold punch of sweet heat.”

The dish is a celebration of “third-culture culinary storytelling,” says the chef. “I predict we’ll continue to see exciting innovations at the intersection of Jewish and Asian cuisines in the years ahead.”

2. Wow Watermelon

Competition chefs know that it’s smart game play to use a hero ingredient in multiple ways, but this chef went above and beyond in showcasing the versatility of the signature fruit of the National Watermelon Promotion Board. The dish features creamy watermelon mousse tucked into mini crepe tacos, watermelon ice cream, a dehydrated watermelon salsa crumble salad, and a watermelon-prickly pear drizzle. It’s a testament to culinary technique: Watermelon juice is reduced for the sauce. Fresh and dehydrated watermelon make up the salsa crumble salad, which is topped with pickled watermelon rind. Fresh watermelon was used in the ice cream, while watermelon powder was incorporated in both the mousse and the crepe tacos. “I really had fun creating this,” says the chef.

The dish also gets a helping hand courtesy of lentils from Lentils.org, which were another featured ingredient in the crepe dough. “The lentil flour gave it a nice red flare and an earthy flavor.”

3. Orecchiette Cereal Sundae

Kitchen Collaborative chefs are always urged to think out of the box when highlighting sponsor products, but this chef left the box far behind in this creative pasta application. Here, the orecchiette from Barilla for Professionals is fried, coated with sugar and sweet cocoa and used as a topping on a serving of gelato. “I wanted to use this ingredient in a really unfamiliar way—both fried and as part of a dessert,” explains the chef. Inspiration was found in other Italian fried pasta snacks, as well as dessert fritters and donuts.

“The fried pasta lends a nutty, cereal-like taste and crunch to the sundae and it holds both the chocolate sauce and the ice cream in its divots,” he notes, reporting that the pasta fried up quickly, held well and was easy to coat with a variety of sugars or toppings, even long after being removed from the fryer. “It is so fun to snack on!”

4. Nikujaga-Style Lentil Korokke

This dish reimagines two Japanese comfort favorites in a single item and applies a plant-based lens. Nikujaga is a hearty stew featuring thinly sliced meat, usually beef or pork, while korokke is a deep-fried croquette, typically with a meat and potato filling. Here they come together with whole red lentils from Lentils.org. The build also includes a teriyaki brown sauce, made with Original Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce from Kikkoman, plus cabbage salad, tomato, pickled watermelon rind (courtesy of the National Watermelon Promotion Board), togarashi crispy lentils and fresh shiso as a garnish. A plant-based milk was used to bind panko crumbs to the filling before frying.

“I wanted to create a dish that felt rooted in tradition while reflecting my approach to plant-based cooking. I try to identify a plant-based substitute to an animal protein that will deliver the same level of satisfaction, flavor and comfort,” explains the chef. “In this case, lentils became the ideal stand-in for the beef element, bringing heartiness, savory depth and a naturally satisfying texture to the korokke.”

5. Watermelon XLB

Xiaolongbao (XLB), Chinese soup dumplings, are delicious but they tend to be labor-intensive. “Now, more than ever, we are seeing restaurants start to expand the idea of what an XLB is,” says the chef, whose personal contribution on this expanded idea is to use watermelon as the filling. Fresh watermelon from the National Watermelon Promotion Board is formed into small balls and soaked in Chili Crisp Hot Honey Sauce from Lee Kum Kee. These are then stuffed into wonton wrappers and steamed, served hot or cold, along with shredded ginger and watermelon rind in black vinegar and soy. The broth uses watermelon juice and more Hot Honey sauce.

“I loved the idea of having a dumpling in a familiar form, but filled with something light and fresh like watermelon,” says the chef. “You get the freshness of the watermelon flavor combined with the sweet heat of the sauce. It’s a strangely familiar experience, but with all new flavors.”

6. Pecan Lentil Brownies with Teriyaki Caramel Sauce

“I was blown away by the moistness that lentils added to these brownies,” says the chef, who had never tried incorporating legumes in baked goods before Kitchen Collaborative. Always on the hunt for flavorful ways to sneak more fiber, protein and veggies into family meals, this chef found the split red lentils from Lentils.org sparked inspiration. They produced an incredibly moist texture that was unexpectedly craveable, the chef reports, declaring them a “grand slam” among her three teenage daughters, and she plans to continue to experiment with lentils in sweet treats.

The lentils were cooked, puréed and mixed with honey, brown sugar, cocoa, butter, vegetable oil, vanilla, chocolate chips and toasted pecans. To dial up the decadence, the brownies are finished with a rich caramel sauce that incorporates Original Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce from Kikkoman. “It added a subtle salty, umami depth to balance the sweetness and make every bite a little more interesting,” she says.

Launched in 2020 by Summit F&B and Flavor & The Menu, the Kitchen Collaborative menu development program has produced hundreds of menu concepts that push the boundaries of flavor innovation while highlighting the passion and talent driving the industry.

Up Next: Flavor & The Menu will wrap up our Kitchen Collaborative preview before the 2026 winners are announced in May.