MasterChef Australia returns with auditions and 40 of the country's best home cooks are ready. Tonight 20 cooks have 90 minutes to cook their dream dish in order to win one of the 10 aprons on offer.

Another 20 home cooks enter the MasterChef kitchen to compete for 10 aprons on offer. For those who miss out, they learn there will be one final chance to cook for the last four aprons tomorrow.

Tonight, the 20 remaining hopefuls have a second and final chance to cook their way into the competition. Just who will score themselves one of the final four places?

Aussie Rock legend Jimmy Barnes set this season's first mystery box, inspiring the Top 24 with seasonal ingredients they love to cook with. Dish of the day will see its maker safe from elimination.

In the first elimination of the competition, 23 cooks will show the judges a window into their homelife, through a favourite dish that they cook at home for their loved ones.

It's the return of a MasterChef classic with an Invention Test challenging cooks to create an inventive dish using cereal.