Claudia Sandoval of La Mesa, San Diego County was crowned as the winner of "MasterChef" Season 6 on Wednesday's finale night.

On Sept. 16, Sandoval departed from Fox's TV cooking competition with several prizes: including $250,000, her own cookbook deal, and the highly coveted "MasterChef" trophy, NBC listed.

"In life nothing is handed to you, it is earned. With determination, heart and a lot of hard work, everything can be accomplished. Yes you can. I've proven it," she wrote on Instagram in Spanish following her big win, as translated by Fox News Latino.

Wednesday's finale featured Sandoval as one of the three finalists with Derrick Peltz and Stephen Lee. Peltz was given immunity in a pressure test when he came out on top after a team challenge with former "MasterChef" contestants. Lee and Sandoval then went head-to-head, with the latter emerging as the victor, Fox News Latino wrote.

In the final showdown between Sandoval and Peltz, she once again showcased her cooking talents that made her Season 6's champion.

In Sandoval's interview posted on Fox's webpage for "MasterChef," it was revealed that the cook's biggest inspiration is her mother. "She is a person that has always chosen to cook, not cooked because she had to. She experiments and plays with flavors without steering away from what we know and love," Sandoval said.

As for her biggest professional culinary inspiration, Sandoval looks up to Mexican chef Enrique Olvera.

"He has been deemed one of the best in the world in terms of Mexican Chefs and he continues to find unorthodox ways to present our traditional flavors with the incredible gourmet plating that only professional French chefs have been able to achieve," she explained in Fox's website.

Sandoval's comfort food would be her mother's menudo. If she were to choose her last meal on earth, she'd opt for her mom's tostadas, describing it as "savory, and yet bright and colorful" and offers "texture, spice, and the perfect balances of salt and acidity," Fox reported.

According to the "MasterChef" website, Sandoval owes the biggest culinary advice she ever received to the TV show's very own judge and chef, Graham Elliot.

"He told me to stick to what I know and trust my instinct. He reminded me that my style is nothing like anyone else's and trying to be like someone else means, you aren't being true to your food. I want to cook Claudia food... not Graham Elliot food," Sandoval explained, as indicated on the website.

Sandoval blogs about her cooking adventures and recipes on her website, Chef Claudia's Cocina. Her other blog, "The Adventures of Single Latina Mama,"  showcases her life as a single mom to her 9-year-old daughter.