"What Would Alex Make?" episodes feature footage of Guarnaschelli cooking in her own backyard, intercut with footage of the chefs' competition. During each of the first two rounds, she attempts to use the set of items judged by the producers to be the most difficult, while in the third, she is given a blind choice of grocery bags that each contain the ingredients purchased by one chef. For every round, she combines the given ingredients with additional ones similar to those available for all chefs' use.