Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records (GWR) for cooking the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice — a weighed total of 8,780 kg (19,356 lb 9 oz) in Lagos. The record was announced by GWR on Monday after the attempt, which took place in partnership with food brand Gino.
Guinness World Records
The mass cook was staged on Victoria Island as part of the Gino World Jollof Festival. Organisers say the attempt used 200 bags of basmati rice and drew thousands of spectators, food lovers, and celebrities to the venue. The partnership with Gino provided sponsorship and logistics for the specially fabricated cooking pot and festival staging.
Baci and her team prepared the dish in a custom-built, six-metre pot with a reported capacity of roughly 22,619 litres. Organisers originally planned a larger quantity but reduced raw rice to 200 bags — about 4,000 kg — because weighing constraints meant the crane and scale could not safely handle a heavier load. The operation reportedly produced more than 16,000 plates, took about nine hours of continuous cooking and consumed about 1,200 kg of gas.
What led to the attempt
The jollof-record bid followed months of planning. Baci and her partners commissioned engineers to design and fabricate the pot, mobilised suppliers for thousands of kilograms of rice, tomato paste, and other ingredients, and coordinated with event and safety crews to manage the crowd and weighing procedure. Punch reports that the pot and logistics required roughly two months of fabrication and careful measurement planning to meet Guinness documentation requirements.
Was this record previously held?
Guinness World Records described the achievement as a “New record: Largest serving of Nigerian style jollof rice”, and its public announcement did not name a previous holder for this exact category — meaning GWR recorded this as a fresh category/benchmark rather than a direct overturn of an earlier listed title. That framing, used by the record body, indicates there was no standing Guinness entry for this precise measure of “largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice” before Baci’s attempt.
A quick context check shows that while large-scale rice and stew events (for example, giant paellas and other communal dishes) have been staged worldwide, this particular GWR category for Nigerian-style jollof appears to be newly formalised by Guinness and is therefore being entered into the records for the first time.
Why it matters
The confirmation will amplify international attention on Nigerian food culture and on Baci’s profile as a culinary entrepreneur. The event’s organisers framed the festival both as a celebration of cuisine and as a high-visibility brand activation for Gino and partners; it is also the latest in a string of headline-making feats by Baci, who previously captured global attention with a high-profile cook-a-thon that drew Guinness scrutiny in 2023.
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