If you’re looking for a delicious and filling side dish – or meal on its own, air fryer baked sweet potato might be for you.
So easy to make, these baked sweet potatoes in the air fryer turn out crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and can be topped sweet or savory however you like!
Recipe Tips
Before you make a sweet potato in the air fryer, read through these few recipe tips so that you know what to keep in mind!
- Much like when you make air fryer baked potatoes, try using sweet potatoes that are roughly the same size. This way, they all cook evenly and finish at the same time. If you have sweet potatoes of wildly different sizes, some might already be done while others need more time.
- We poke holes in the raw sweet potato to help with cooking. This step isn’t completely necessary since the sweet potatoes will cook just fine without them, but we find that it can speed up the cooking time a tiny bit.
- If you’re craving sweet potatoes but have reconsidered leaving them whole, you can also make sweet potato wedges, homemade sweet potato fries, or simply sweet potato cubes – all in the air fryer!
We use this air fryer for our recipes and it has been great.
Step by Step Instructions
To see visuals for how we make these baked sweet potatoes in the air fryer, you can follow the process photos in this section.
If you just want to see the cooking times and temperatures, you can scroll down to the recipe card for all the details without the photos.
First, wash and scrub the outside of the sweet potatoes. Then pat them dry with a towel or dish cloth.
Next, take a fork and pierce holes into the outside of the sweet potatoes.
This step isn’t completely necessary because they will cook fine without holes but we find that it can shorten the cooking time a tiny bit.
Preheat the air fryer to 385 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, coat the outside of the sweet potatoes with oil and then sprinkle on some salt and rub it in.
If you don’t plan on eating the skin anyway and prefer a sweeter taste, you can also skip the oil and salt.
Place the raw sweet potatoes into the air fryer tray. Cook them for approximately 45 minutes until tender (this can vary by size and your air fryer).
Flip them at the halfway point. You can check if the sweet potato is done by piercing a knife or fork into it.
Once cooked, remove the sweet potatoes from the air fryer. Let them sit for a couple of minutes to cool.
Then cut the sweet potatoes open (we like lengthwise) and serve them with toppings of your choice.
We like butter with salt and pepper or sour cream with chopped parsley. We also know that some prefer the sweet version and like eating their sweet potatoes with ground cinnamon and sugar.
Storage Tips
You can store leftover sweet potatoes in the fridge in a sealed container. Just make sure to let them cool down to room temperature first.
They will be good for around 3 days. Just don’t be surprised if they get a little moist in the container.
To reheat the sweet potatoes, you can cut them up for faster warming and microwave them or choose to once again air fry the whole sweet potato until it is warm.
What to Serve Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato With
Once you air fry sweet potato, there are a few different ways to eat it – and a few things to serve it with.
We like them with butter, salt, and pepper or with sour cream and chopped parsley for a different flavor combination. Some people also like to eat them sweet with butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
You can also make your baked sweet potato into a loaded sweet potato. Topping ideas would be, for example, fried mushrooms, cooked chickpeas/beans, cheese, or other toppings of your choice.
As for being a side dish, baked sweet potatoes make a great addition to some meat-based dishes like pork chops, steak, or ribs.
Related Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe for air fried sweet potatoes, check out these other popular air fryer side dish ideas:
Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes, see notes
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- butter, sour cream, cinnamon sugar etc. for topping, optional
Instructions
- Wash and scrub the outside of the sweet potatoes. Then pat them dry with a towel or dish cloth.
- Next, take a fork and pierce holes into the outside of the sweet potatoes. This step isn’t completely necessary because they will cook fine without holes but we find that it can shorten the cooking time a tiny bit.
- Preheat the air fryer to 385 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, coat the outside of the sweet potatoes with oil and then sprinkle on some salt and rub it in. If you don’t plan on eating the skin anyway and prefer a sweeter taste, you can also skip the oil and salt.
- Place the raw sweet potatoes into the air fryer tray. Cook them for approximately 45 minutes until tender (this can vary by size and your air fryer). Flip them at the halfway point. You can check if the sweet potato is done by piercing a knife or fork into it.
- Once cooked, remove the sweet potatoes from the air fryer and let them sit for a couple of minutes to cool.
- Then cut the sweet potatoes open (we like lengthwise) and serve them with toppings of your choice. We like butter with salt and pepper or sour cream with chopped parsley. We also know that some prefer the sweet version and like eating it with ground cinnamon and sugar.
Notes
- Try using sweet potatoes that are roughly the same size so they are done cooking at the same time. The sweet potatoes we used were all between 8-10 oz each. If you use sweet potatoes that are quite a bit smaller or bigger, keep in mind that you might have to adjust cooking time!
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
