Onion rings are a nice, tangy snack. Maybe you’re old enough to remember when there wasn’t much choice when you wanted to enjoy some.
Many brands offer onion rings today, but two stand out. Funyuns and Wise Onion Rings. Now the question is, What’s better?
In this article, I compare both brands. I will look at their flavors, ingredients, price, and more. Keep reading if you need help deciding which onion rings to buy.
Funyuns
Like many snack foods, Funyuns are produced by FritoLay (part of the Pepsi-Cola company).
The first Funyuns were sold in 1969, so they aren’t as traditional as some other snack foods, e.g., corn chips.
Where Do I Buy Funyuns?
Frito-Lay makes it easy to find a local store that sells its products, including Funyuns. Just head to the “Where to buy” page, and you’ll find a selection of stores nearby. These might be grocery stores, Walmart, Target, convenience stores, or other stores that sell groceries.
Of course, there are also a variety of online retailers that sell Funyuns.
What FunyunsFlavors Are Available?
Funyuns only come in two flavors, which are both available to buy on Amazon.
The Classic Funyuns
The classic Funyun onion-flavored rings come in snack packs and larger sharing packs.
The Flamin’ Hot Funyuns
The Flamin’ Hot Funyuns are an interesting taste experience for people who like onions but also love hot stuff.
What are the Ingredients in Funyuns?
The ingredients for the original Funyuns onion-flavored rings are:
Enriched corn meal (corn meal, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, and/or canola oil), and less than 2% of the following: salt, corn starch, soy flour, sugar, corn flour, buttermilk powder, maltodextrin (made from corn), hydrolyzed soy protein, onion powder, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed corn protein, dextrose, artificial color, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, garlic powder, natural flavors, extractives of onion, and gum arabic.
Are Funyuns Vegetarian or Vegan?
Surprisingly, Funyuns might be unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans. These onion rings may contain some ingredients vegetarians as well as vegans avoid.
While these onion rings are 100% not vegan because of the dairy ingredients, they might also not be suitable for vegetarians. The problem is that the company is not required to go into detail about the source of some of the artificial flavors and colorings, which could realistically be animal-derived.
Wise Onion Rings
Wise Foods, the company behind Wise Onion Rings, was founded in 1921. In the first years, Wise Foods did not produce onion rings yet. The focus was on potato chips. In the following decades, many other snack foods were added as the company grew and changed leadership a few times.
Wise is a competitor of Frito-Lay.
Where Do I Buy Wise Onion Rings?
Like Funyuns, Wise Onions Rings can be found in most stores that sell groceries, including – but not limited to – grocery stores, Walmart, Target, and various online retailers.
You can also shop on the Wise website to get your onion ring fix right from the source. The site often has pretty good deals on their onion rings.
What Wise Onion Rings Flavors Are Available?
Unlike Funyuns, Wise Onion Rings only come in one flavor, onion flavored. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. Better do one flavor right than try your hand at too many. After all, onion rings should taste like onions, right?
Wise does offer a lot of other types of chips and flavors, and you can see them in these variety pack options:
What are the Ingredients in Wise Onion Rings?
Let’s see how the ingredient list of Wise Onion Rings measures up to the competition.
Modified corn starch, tapioca starch, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, partially hydrogenated soybean oil* or canola oil), onion powder, potato flour, salt, sugar, torula yeast, hydrolyzed torula yeast proteins, hydrolyzed brewers yeast proteins, monosodium glutamate (flavor enhancer), garlic powder, paprika, spice extractive flavorings, yellow #5, yellow #6, red #3, and blue #1.
Who knew onion rings included so many colors? Overall, the ingredient list for Wise Onion rings looks better.
Are Wise Onion Rings Vegetarian or Vegan?
Unlike Funyuns, Wise Onions rings are suitable for vegetarians and vegans alike. There’s no sign of dairy. Even the flavor enhancer comes from a plant-based source.
So, Wise’s product is the better option if you’re vegan or vegetarian.
Comparison Questions
Which Tastes More Like Onions?
This is the most important question. There’s a clear winner here: Wise Onion Rings taste more like onions, while Funyuns seem salty with a hint of onion.
Looking at the ingredient list gives you a good idea: onion powder is listed as a lesser ingredient in Funyuns, while it’s pretty high up the list in Wise Onion Rings.
Which Is More Affordable?
The two brands only have one product that can directly be compared: classic onion-flavored rings. So, which one has the better price (on average)?
| Funyuns | Wise Onion Rings | More affordable | |
| Classic Onion flavor | $0.90 per oz | $0.68 per oz | Wise Onion Rings |
As you can see, Wise Onion Rings are winning this round.
Which Has The Better Nutritional Values?
While most people don’t care too much about the nutritional facts of their snacks, it is important information for some – and it could influence your buying decision, so here is the comparison of the most important values.
| Funyuns | Wise Onion Rings | Better | |
| Serving size | 28g | 28g | neither |
| Calories | 140 | 140 | neither |
| Fat | 6g | 6g | neither |
| Sodium | 280 mg | 410 mg | Funyuns |
| Total Carbs | 19g | 20g | Funyuns |
| Protein | 2g | 0g | Funyuns |
| Calcium | 10 mg | 5 mg | Funyuns |
| Iron | 0.5 mg | 0 mg | Funyuns |
| Potassium | 40 mg | 0 mg | Funyuns |
Funyuns are winning that round, especially looking at the amount of sodium in Wise Onion Rings. This surprised me a little because Funyuns taste much saltier than Wise Onion Rings.
Do Funyuns Or Wise Onion Rings Have Gluten-Free Options?
While neither of the two is made with gluten and is theoretically safe for gluten-free diets, they are not certified gluten-free.
Wise advertises their onion rings as gluten-free, making them the safer option if you have a severe gluten-related problem.
Final Thoughts
While Funyuns have better nutritional values, health isn’t exactly what I look for in an onion ring. This means: Wise Onion Rings are just better.
They have a better onion taste and also cost less than Funyuns.
In addition, I like that they contain fewer questionable ingredients. They are vegan and gluten-free, so what’s not to like?
