What You Didn't Know About McDonald's' Onion Nuggets

McDonald's is a brand that's synonymous with nostalgia. After all, the fast food chain has been around for a long time — since 1955, if you're wondering about the exact answer. Yes, you're probably familiar with some of the most well-known items on the menu, such as the Big Mac and the brand's Chicken McNuggets, but did you know that McDonald's has experimented with several dishes over the years?

According to Eat This, Not That!, the brand has come up with a few ideas that have backfired really badly in the past. For example, it was possible to get pizza at a McDonald's outlet in the 1970s. For real. The McPizza was introduced to the menu several times for over two decades, but it failed to find a fan base. It was finally scrapped from the menu once and for all in 2000. What was the issue, you ask? Well, the pizza took a really long time to be served. You'd have to wait 11 minutes to get your pizza. Honestly, this was far too long a wait for those customers who were used to McDonald's' speedy food deliveries. By the way, this wasn't the only item that didn't take off in the 1970s. What else, you ask? Say hello to the onion nuggets.

Onion nuggets were introduced to McDonald's by a chef named Rene Arend, who worked at the fast food outlet in the 1970s (via ABC News). What were they, anyway? Well, these nuggets were onion rings, except for the fact that they were presented as chunks that were prepared by using a breadcrumb batter and also involved, as you may have already guessed, deep frying. 

According to Eat This, Not That!, they were served to customers with dipping sauce. Unfortunately, patrons were far from impressed by these breaded onion nuggets. A Redditor had an interesting comment about the onion nuggets and why they probably didn't quite succeed. They wrote, "This isn't that weird, if you think about onion rings, but thumb-sized chunks of fried onion still seems like a bit much ... maybe customers just went 'onions? That's a vegetable! That is NOT what I come to McDonald's for, folks.'" That is a real possibility, if you think about it. In any case, the brand isn't expected to bring back the onion nuggets anytime soon.