10 things you probably didn’t know about onion rings

Colin Joliat

Sunday is National Onion Ring day. I’m not sure deep fried slivers of vegetables deserve their own day, but I’m not one to argue about something so delicious. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about onion rings.

1. The first recipe for Onion Rings was a Crisco ad in a 1933 issue of the New York Times Magazine.

Rumor is Paula Dean took out the ad.

2. Eating parsley will help get rid of onion breath.

Finally a use for the decorative tiny tree!

3. Fastest time to eat raw onion was 43.53 seconds by Guyism favorite, Furious Pete.

Equally entertaining LA Beast attempted, and failed, to break the record.

4. A&W is credited for popularizing onion rings in the 1960s

This proves they’re good for more than just frosty mugs full of amazing draft root beer.

5. The fastest time to peel 50 pounds of onions is 2 minutes 39 seconds

This was accomplished by Bob Blumer, and also happens to be the same amount of time it takes me to peel one onion.

6. Outback Steakhouse’s Bloomin’ Onion has 1948 cal and 160g fat.

It supposedly serves six, but we all know this deconstructed onion ring is meant for two.

7. Funyons appeared in Breaking Bad

In S02E09 (torrent much?) of Breaking Bad, Jesse heads to the desert to cook some meth and brings along three bags of Funyuns. When Walt criticizes the choice, Jesse responds, “Funyuns are awesome!”

8. General Ulysses S. Grant told the federal government, “I will not move my army without onions!”

The man got his onions. Rumor has it (not really) that the Confederacy deep fried theirs (obviously), and the soldiers were so sluggish afterwards that it resulted in them losing the war.

9. One onion ring ends up in every Burger King order of fries.*

This serves to remind customers that the BK Lounge offers more options than McDonald’s.

10. US produces more than 2 million metric tons of onions annually.

Americans consumer 20 pounds per person annually.

11. Spaceballs: The Animated Series produced an episode called “Lord of the Onion Rings.”

It was a parody of Lord of the Rings in which Barf finds the One Onion Ring stuck in an old couch inside the Eagle 5.

*Entirely made up.