{"id":385,"date":"2025-04-07T14:21:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T14:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/?p=385"},"modified":"2025-04-13T08:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T08:02:25","slug":"mcdonalds-fans-just-discovered-lost-menu-item-from-the-70s-thats-cursed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/mcdonalds-fans-just-discovered-lost-menu-item-from-the-70s-thats-cursed\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonald\u2019s fans just discovered lost menu item from the 70s that\u2019s \u2018cursed\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
The product hasn’t been sold for around 40 years… (Picture: Western Mail Archive\/Western Mail Archive\/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McDonald\u2019s<\/a> is constantly changing up its menu<\/a>, giving customers new items and bringing back fan-favourites.<\/p>\n

For instance, the chain recently launched a brand new Minecraft Movie Meal<\/a>, that’s essentially like an adult Happy Meal – it even comes with a special collectible. <\/p>\n

But it seems there\u2019s one item that many people would love to tuck into once more, even though it\u2019s been more than 40 years since it was last sold in the UK.<\/p>\n

Before the iconic Chicken McNuggets<\/a> launched in 1984<\/a>, there was a different product available in nugget form and it’s fair to say that it proved somewhat controversial. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"An\t<\/div>
The product was launched in the 70s (Picture: McDonald’s)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Onion Nuggets <\/strong>were sold at McDonald\u2019s from 1976 onwards<\/a>, and were available in the US as well. These quite literally were chunks of onions, deep fried in a golden batter. <\/p>\n

They were intended as a vegetarian option, for those who didn\u2019t want to order a burger, but they weren\u2019t a very successful product, as people preferred onion rings. Ultimately they were axed from the menu a few years later.<\/p>\n

The chicken version that we all know and love was actually inspired by the lost Onion Nugget product.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s former development chef, Ren\u00e9 Arend, who joined the chain in the late 1970s, started working on chicken nuggets in 1979, when Chairman Fred Turner suggested the idea, but they didn\u2019t launch in restaurants until the 80s. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"McDonald's\t<\/div>
The Onion Nuggets inspired the creation of Chicken McNuggets (Picture: Chris Hondros\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite being deemed \u2018unsuccessful\u2019 the Onion Nuggets have a strong fan base online, with many on Reddit<\/a> demanding Maccies \u2018bring them back\u2019. <\/p>\n

u\/cool_weed_dad said: \u2018I would f***ing destroy a 20 piece of these, they should bring them back. It\u2019s just onion rings in nugget form.\u2019 And u\/Banjo-oz agreed, saying: \u2018I think they souns pretty delicious, although they seem like the laziest onion rings ever. “Rings? Nah, just hack em into chunks and batter em!”\u2019<\/p>\n

While u\/nando82 wrote: \u2018From what I hear, these were quite good. Here’s hoping Mcdonald’s bring these onions back one day.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, not everyone was quite so keen with a few thinking the Onion Nuggets sounded \u2018cursed\u2019<\/a>, \u2018disgusting\u2019, and \u2018made them want to gag\u2019.<\/p>\n

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@mcdonalds<\/a> <\/p>\n

should Mike tell us about McPizza next? #mcnuggets<\/a> #mcdonalds<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – McDonald\u2019s<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">Would you like to see Onion Nuggets return to the McDonald\u2019s menu?<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>This comes after <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/07\/01\/mcdonalds-reveals-special-50th-birthday-menu-3-iconic-burgers-back-21136463\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/07\/01\/mcdonalds-reveals-special-50th-birthday-menu-3-iconic-burgers-back-21136463\/\">McDonald\u2019s celebrated its 50th birthday in the UK<\/a> in 2024 and shared a look at a timeline of its changes over the years. <\/p>\n<p>The very<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/10\/15\/inside-uks-first-ever-mcdonalds-a-big-mac-cost-45p-21779704\/\"><strong> first McDonald\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> in the UK launched on November 13, 1974 in Woolwich, and back then a Big Mac cost just 45p and a cheeseburger was 21p. <\/p>\n<p>The chain also reminded people of another forgotten menu item, this one from the 90s:<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/11\/13\/forgotten-mcdonalds-menu-item-amazing-90s-many-dont-believe-existed-21979279\/\"> McPizza.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yep, in the mid-1990s, McDonald\u2019s trialled personal pizzas in the UK, which were an 8-inch pizza split into four slices. These came in three different flavours: Cheese, Cheese & Pepperoni, and the Deluxe (cheese, green pepper, onion, pepperoni, and more).<\/p>\n<p>These were launched ahead of 1994, when the chain launched the power\/breakfast\/working lunch which allowed city workers to order food to their desks. Orders were placed by fax or telephone and menu options included the personal pizzas.<\/p>\n<p>According to McDonald\u2019s website, the pizzas were sold for a \u2018limited period in some restaurants\u2019 in the mid-1990s as part of a \u2018sales and product test\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>This article was originally published on November 15, 2024.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk\">MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The product hasn’t been sold for around 40 years… (Picture: Western Mail Archive\/Western Mail Archive\/Mirrorpix via Getty Images) McDonald\u2019s is constantly changing up its menu, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":391,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}