Onion Ring Day

Basket of onion rings. u_6qcjbfqp / pixabay.com / 2020 / CC0 1.0

The 22nd of June is Onion Ring Day.

Who doesn’t like onion rings: crunchy and moist, both sweet and savoury at the same time!

Do you have a favourite place that you go to for onion rings that does them better than anyone else?

If you like a dipping sauce with your onion rings, what kind of sauce? Ranch? Buffalo? Blue Cheese? Mayonnaise? Ketchup? Comeback?

If you are watching your waist, you can make lighter versions of onion rings in air fryers or ovens.

In 2018, Burger King offered to give their guests free onion rings on Onion Ring Day if they brought in French fries from a competitor to trade (it’s not known what they did with the French fries that people traded in.)

#NationalOnionRingsDay #OnionRingsDay

See also: Onions, French Fry Day, Fast Food Day

Activities for today

• look for special offers;
• make some at home from scratch;
• buy some frozen ones to cook at home if you are pressed for time;
• treat yourself to an onion ring tower or a basket of onion rings at a restaurant — split with friends, or each order your own!
• snap photos and share the photos on social media;
• look for coupons offering deals or free onion rings;
• check out apps from various restaurants offering onion ring specials today.

Recipes

10 Recipes For National Onion Ring Day (From the U.S. National Onion Association. Link valid as of May 2021)

History

The earliest print mention of an ‘Onion Ring Day’ that CooksInfo is aware of is for one in November, which dates from 2003.

“Today Is… Onion Ring Day.” Alexandria, Louisiana: The Town Talk. Sunday, 23 November 2003. Classifieds section, page 1, col. 4.

It appeared in several papers across the United States, and for several years afterwards.

The earliest print mention for an ‘Onion Ring Day’ in June that CooksInfo is aware of dates from 2014:

“The weeklong observance for pollinators ends Sunday [Ed: 22 June], which also happens to be National Onion Ring Day, announced in an email from the National Onion Association in Greeley, Colo.” — Holland, John. National Pollinator Week brings bill, new honey flavours. Merced, California: Merced Sun-Star. Saturday, 21 June 2014. Page A6, col. 1.

John-Bryan Hopkins, author of the foodimentary.com website and Twitter feed, claims to have invented the day:

“Hopkins freely and proudly admits that he just made up Onion Ring Day.” ^[1]Tuttle, Brad. Meet the Guy Who Totally Makes Up the Fake Holidays We Celebrate. New York, NY: Time Magazine. 17 June 2014. Accessed December 2021 at https://time.com/2891248/fake-holidays-food-splurge-day-marketing/

He may, however, be referring to the one in June, as the November one predated his 2005 start on Twitter. He may have been unaware of the already-existing November date when he listed the June date on his Twitter feed.

Sources

Alfaro, Audrey. Don’t cry while slicing – National Onion Ring Day is June 22. Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. 15 June 2020. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/15/dorothy-dean-presents-dont-cry-while-slicing-natio/

Buck, Fielding. Free onion rings from Farmer Boys today, June 22. Riverside, California: The Press Enterprise. 22 June 2017. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.pe.com/2017/06/22/free-onion-rings-from-farmer-boys-today-june-22/

Constantine, Mary. It’s National Onion Rings Day. What restaurant serves your favorite? Knoxville, Tennessee: Knoxville News Sentinel. 22 June 2018. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/2018/06/22/its-national-onion-rings-day/713651002/

Mogan, Brooke Scher. For National Onion Ring Day, Trade Their Fries for BURGER KING® Rings. Burger King. Press Release. 21 June 2018. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180621005157/en/National-Onion-Ring-Day-Trade-Fries-BURGER

Reddin, Kim. June 22 is National Onion Ring Day. Greely, Colorado: National Onion Association. Press Release. 11 June 2014. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/june-22-is-national-onion-ring-day-262698701.html

Stubbs, Cindy. National Onion Rings Day? Is there any day that doesn’t celebrate or commemorate something? Manchester, England: The Guardian. 5 July 2017. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/05/national-onion-ring-day-celebrate-commemorate