Cops say a prankster tried to throw Gordon Ramsay into the frying pan ... calling in a bogus 911 report of a shooting at the famous chef's Los Angeles home.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD officers responded to the call at 8:40 PM Tuesday after an unknown person called in a report of a gunman opening fire at Gordon's mansion in Bel Air.

But, we're told when the cops arrived, they didn't find so much as a dish out of place ... police say they even spoke with neighbors who confirmed nothing had happened. Our sources say Ramsay was not home at the time.

Police chalked it up to yet another "swatting" incident, in which callers report a phony crime to trigger a massive law enforcement response to go to their target. Detectives have opened an investigation into the Ramsay case ... but so far, no one has been arrested.

Swatting has been a consistent problem in L.A. County. You may recall ... two weeks ago, officers swarmed Nicki Minaj's Hidden Hills pad in the L.A. area following a report of a shooting that also turned out to be fake.

And, last year, Jennifer Aniston also fell victim to a hoax call to the police. Other celebs in L.A. who have been swatted include Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber.

TMZ reached out to reps for Gordon ... so far, no word back.