Guinness World Records: Hilda Baci cooks largest serving of Nigerian jollof rice at 8,780kgs
By Nancy Marende, September 15, 2025Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci has once again etched her name in the Guinness World Records for preparing the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice, weighing an astonishing 8,780 kg (19,356 lb 9 oz).
In a statement on Monday, September 15, 2025, Guinness World Records revealed that Hilda, teaming up with food brand Gino Nigeria, led a nine-hour cooking marathon fuelled by what she described as “fire, passion, and teamwork.”
“Alongside the brand Gino Nigeria, Hilda cooked up the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice. Hilda says it took “nine hours of fire, passion and teamwork” and 1,200 kg of gas to create the 16,600 plates of rice “served with joy, love and community,” read the statement.
Thousands of people gathered in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos, on September 12, 2025, to watch the food influencer’s latest world record bid, after once holding the 2023 title for the longest cooking marathon – an exhausting 93 hours and 11 minutes, or nearly four days.
The dish took several hours to cook, and the Guinness World Records organisation now validates evidence of the feat.
Manufacturing the giant steel vessel to hold her dish took a culinary team of 300 people two months to make.
Working with a group of assistants wielding massive wooden spatulas, Baci’s crowning dish was later distributed for onlookers to enjoy.
Jollof rice is a staple of Nigerian cuisine, featuring rice simmered in a tomato sauce, often paired with meat or seafood.
Hilda Baci’s 2023 record
Baci won a competition for her version of jollof rice in 2021 and then became a national sensation in 2023 when she claimed the cooking marathon record.
She was awarded a Ksh49 million cash prize. for cooking the longest hours: 93 hours and 11 minutes.
Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, completed a 100-hour “cook-a-thon” on May 14, 2023, in an attempt to break the world record for the longest cooking marathon.
She was officially declared the new record holder at 93 hours and 11 minutes, replacing Indian chef Lata Tondon, who previously held the title with a record time of 87 hours and 45 minutes set in 2019.