Jōichirō attributes Sōma's strength not to natural cooking talent, but to his courage that allows him to boldly face whoever challenges him, no matter how much of a genius they are or whatever disadvantages they may throw at him. Time and time again, Sōma has proven that he is more than capable of overcoming the most difficult challenges with the steepest handicaps. Because of his unknown humble origins, Sōma is never the favorite to win most of his matches as he constantly faces fellow classmates of more noteworthy backgrounds, most of which do not consider him a threat because of their own advantages. For three Shokugekis, Sōma risked being expelled from Tōtsuki if he lost, while in another Shokugeki he faced giving up being a chef in general forever. Sōma is courageous and even reckless, often getting himself into very dangerous situations that could jeopardize his entire cooking career. As such, he can create some of the most unorthodox, but also incredibly delicious dishes the school has ever seen. Sōma is also flexible and innovative, able to break away from ordinary procedures to cook dishes, thus allowing him to make his own solutions when he needs to find an edge.
However, he remains positive and cool under pressure, never backing down from a challenge and is always constantly thinking and evolving his cooking. Because of this, Sōma constantly finds himself in very difficult situations in his various duels and challenges which would break the spirits of most chefs. He is confident in his skills and always seeks to challenge others to prove his abilities and test the limits of his cooking. Sōma is an energetic and optimistic boy who has the constant drive to improve his cooking, mostly due to his strong relationship and rivalry with his father, Jōichirō Yukihira.