Việc học nghề của Yukihira Soma tại nhà hàng của cha cậu phải dừng lại đột ngột khi một kẻ đầu cơ nhà đất đe dọa đóng cửa nhà hàng này.

Trừ Soma, tất cả mọi người đều bỏ chạy đi khi Erina tiết lộ cô là giám khảo của họ; Soma phải làm một món trứng xứng tầm với khẩu vị cao cấp của Erina.

Soma khiến cả hội học sinh phẫn nộ tại lễ khai giảng khi cậu cả gan tuyên bố sẽ trở thành học sinh hàng đầu tại Totsuki.

Cuối cùng Soma cũng đến ký túc xá, nhưng để ở lại nơi đây thì trước tiên, cậu phải vượt qua thử thách và gây ấn tượng với người giám sát.

Soma tìm hiểu các quy tắc của cuộc thi nấu ăn "thực chiến" từ Satoshi. Trong khi đó, Erina chạm trán Kiyoshi cũng trong một trận "thực chiến".

Soma thách thức Mito Ikumi so tài thực chiến khi cậu phát hiện ra Erina mưu tính chia tách câu lạc bộ nghiên cứu donburi vì dự án bành trướng cá nhân.

Ikumi chinh phục khán giả với món bò wagyu hạng A5, song Soma chỉ toàn nhận lại những lời la ó do sử dụng thịt bò giảm giá của siêu thị.

Soma nghĩ ra một kế hoạch khi cựu học sinh Inui của Totsuki giao thử thách làm món Nhật sử dụng các nguyên liệu có ở bên trong hoặc xung quanh tòa nhà.

Soma đụng trúng Erina khi đang trên đường đi tắm. Cậu xin lỗi vì đã khiến cô té ngã nhưng Erina từ chối sự giúp đỡ của cậu. Tại phòng tắm, Soma gặp Bếp trưởng Dojima.

Soma recklessly challenges Shinomiya to a Shokugeki in order to have him retract his decision to expel Megumi. Shinomiya refuses, but Dojima half forces him to accept. However, Dojima also imposes a condition on Soma and Megumi--Megumi must be the main chef! If they lose, Soma will also be expelled. The unofficial Shokougeki is about to begin!

The unofficial Shokugeki between Shinomiya and the Megumi-Soma pair has begun. With expulsion on the line, the judging is underway. Megumi's first dish as the main chef is her own take on the nine-vegetable terrine Shinomiya assigned--the Rainbow Terrine, made from seven types of vegetables!

Third night of camp. Soma and the others manage to make it through their arduous trials. But now they're given a new trial for the next morning: to come up with a menu item that uses eggs.

The students have been tasked with creating an egg-based breakfast menu item for a buffet, and they must persuade guests to consume 200 servings before two hours' time. Soma's souffle omelets keep deflating before the guests have a chance to take the dish. With only 30 minutes remaining, Soma has served less than 10 guests--with defeat imminent, Soma recalls Joichiro's advice and decides to make a last-ditch effort to make a comeback!

With the camp over, surviving students return to Totsuki Academy. Soma manages to miss his bus, but so does Erina, so they end up going back on the same car. As awkward conversation ensues, Soma learns from Erina that the Autumn Elections are coming...

When Soma's father, Joichiro, suddenly shows up on Polar Star Dormitory's doorstep, Soma finds out that his father was an alum of Totsuki Academy and Polar Star Dormitory. Joichiro challenges Soma to a cooking duel to find out how far his son has come. How will the family duel end?

Soma goes back home for the first time in a long while over an extended break. Stormed by people who were waiting for Yukihira to reopen, Soma decides to serve his customers. But among them are the leaders of the shopping district, who tell Soma that the shopping district is on its last breath as a new shopping complex at the train station steals all of their customers...

Home to Diner Yukihira, Sumire Avenue Shopping District is on its last legs after the karaage specialty store, Mozuya, has taken all their customers. Soma recruits Kurase and Nikumi to help devise a plan to recoup customers: the Walk-n-Eat Karaage. The summer karaage campaign is about to begin!

As the first semester draws to a close, the names of students who'll participate in the Autumn Elections are posted in Totsuki Academy. The assigned topic is a curry dish, leading Soma to seek out a certain alumna Joichiro told him about.

Fully aware of how deep curry can go through their encounter with Hayama, Soma and Megumi join the other first-years in preparing for the Autumn Elections over the rest of the summer. Now, the time has finally come for the preliminaries...

The Autumn Elections preliminaries have finally begun! Only four students from each group can advance to the main tournament. In Soma's Group A, the favored candidates get all the attention while Soma toils on. Meanwhile in Group B, Megumi is passed over by everyone as being uninteresting, but then she suddenly pulls out a unique ingredient...

The preliminaries for the Autumn Elections have entered the judging phase for each group! Excitement's in the air in Group B's arena as Hisako, Takumi, Alice, and others score big with the judges. The final dish to be judged belongs to Megumi, whom no one has high hopes for. What will her dish be like?

The battle continues in the Autumn Elections preliminaries. From Group B, Alice, Hisako, Takumi and Megumi all make it through. Meanwhile, in Group A, Sendawara Natsume keeps giving contestants 0's and no one has scored a high overall score. Next, Alice's aide, Kurokiba Ryo is up. The mysterious chef finally reveals his true colors!

Akira's dish, which on top of its powerful fragrance also uses the power of holy basil and yogurt, earns a score of 94 from the judges, two of which gave him a perfect 20. Finally, Soma presents his own fragrance bomb, combining his past two failures into a curry risotto omurice containing a mango chutney that deepens the flavor. The dish earns Soma 93 points, landing him second place behind Akira, though it is noted that three of the five judges ranked the dish higher than Akira's. As the contestants hold an afterparty celebrating and lamenting their victories and losses in the preliminaries, Soma becomes determined to improve his cooking finesse.