Onion Nuggets

by McDonald's

1978 – 1979 GONE FOREVER

Gone — Onion Nuggets ran in four test markets across 1978 and 1979 and never went national, though some accounts have them hanging on into the early 1980s. McDonald's never revived them, and the reason the chain still doesn't sell onion rings is usually traced back to this experiment.

Deep-fried nuggets of chopped onion, sold in a handful of American test markets at the end of the 1970s while McDonald's hunted for a side that wasn't a fry. Customers took one look at the batter-to-onion ratio and asked for rings instead.

🧾 One more thingThey were the work of René Arend, McDonald's first executive chef — and when they flopped, one of the chain's chairmen suggested he try the same idea using poultry. What Arend came back with was the Chicken McNugget, which means the McNugget exists largely because the onion version didn't.

Filed under: Fast Food · the ’70s & earlier

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