The Supermodel Who TikToks From the Stove: Does Bella Hadid (29) Actually Cook?
Bella Hadid has built a reputation as one of the most recognizable faces on runways around the world. But step away from the catwalk and into the kitchen, and a very different, surprisingly relatable side of this supermodel starts to show. Whether or not Hadid actually knows how to cook is a question her fans have been quietly asking for years.
Her TikTok Kitchen Era
When the pandemic hit and the world went indoors, Bella did what many people did: she started cooking at home and posting about it. She took her millions of followers through a step-by-step tutorial on how to make chicken katsu ramen in just 30 minutes, cooking right out of her New York City apartment. She also filmed herself making cheeseburgers and fries, pasta, and an elaborate baguette sandwich loaded with a homemade basil aioli.
Her TikTok presence in the kitchen was earnest, unfiltered, and honestly a little chaotic. In one video caption, she admitted that filming and cooking at the same time is “legit the hardest thing to do.” That kind of self-aware humor made her cooking content feel genuine rather than performative.
The Salad That Broke the Internet
No discussion of Bella Hadid in the kitchen is complete without her now-famous salad. The recipe calls for baby arugula, sliced mini cucumbers, thinly sliced red bell pepper, chunked parmesan, and avocado, all drizzled with lemon juice, balsamic glaze, and olive oil. It went viral on TikTok and inspired thousands of home cooks to recreate it, with The Kitchn even dedicating a full review to trying it.
The verdict from food writers and home cooks alike was unanimous. It’s a genuinely good, deceptively simple dish that holds up well beyond the hype. For a supermodel recipe, it’s surprisingly unfussy and easy to pull off on a weeknight.
Who’s Really Cooking at Home
For all her TikTok cooking energy, Bella is refreshingly honest about her eating habits off-camera. She loves starting her days with eggs and sausage at home, or a trip to the bagel shop below her apartment for her go-to egg sandwich on a plain bagel. For dinner, though, she leans heavily on her neighborhood, with a casual local spot called Westville as her regular go-to.
When family is involved, the cooking duties shift entirely. Her father, Mohamed Hadid, is the one who brings real culinary flair to the table, and Bella once shared photos of him loading Cornish hen into the oven alongside fresh hummus and a cucumber-yogurt dip topped with mint. As for her mother, Bella told Vogue that her favorite dish Yolanda makes is spaghetti Bolognese, adding with clear affection that it’s the only thing she cooks.
Comfort Food Above All Else
At the end of the day, Bella Hadid’s true food personality has nothing to do with runway-ready eating. She has said the meal she could eat every single day is grilled cheese, ketchup, and fries. She’s also a devoted fan of mac and cheese, pizza, and anything cheesy and warm.
She once told WWD that her diet was basically pizza, burgers, French fries, and grilled cheeses, which sounds a lot more like a college dorm than a supermodel’s pantry. It’s the kind of food confession that makes her endlessly likable.
Bella Hadid can cook, does cook, and clearly enjoys the process when she feels like it. But between her dad’s Middle Eastern spreads, her mom’s legendary Bolognese, and her neighborhood takeout rotation, it’s fair to say the kitchen at Casa Hadid is very much a team sport.
