Whether you’re looking for a delicious and easy side dish, or are looking to mash them, sweet potatoes are a great and nutritious choice! Baking them in the air fryer means you can use LESS oil, and you end up with amazingly light and fluffy sweet potatoes with the perfect crispy skin!
Looking for more side dish options? Check out my Oven Roasted Vegetables, Bourbon Glazed Carrots, Stick of Butter Rice, and Crockpot Ranch Mushrooms!
BAKED SWEET POTATO
Aren’t sweet potatoes just the best?! I love a great baked sweet potato, all slathered with some butter, cinnamon and sugar.
They’re perfect alongside a great steak, or even stuffed. Side note, have you checked out these Chorizo Enchilada stuffed sweet potatoes? They are a fabulous light dinner or lunch option!
Roasting them in the oven works well, but it tends to heat up the kitchen, and for whatever reason, I can’t get the skins as crispy as I’d like.
The air fryer solves both of those problems, and is healthier, since you use hardly any oil!
HOW TO MAKE BAKED SWEET POTATOES
- Clean and dry sweet potatoes.
- Pierce sweet potatoes.
- Coat in oil and seasonings.
- Air fry until tender.
That’s it!
COOKING TIPS FOR BAKING SWEET POTATOES
- Prepare the sweet potatoes – make sure to wash (and scrub with a clean scrubby), and dry your potatoes. They’re grown in dirt, so they’ll need a good cleaning. Make sure they’re dry so these potatoes truly bake and roast instead of “steaming”.
- Poke, poke, poke – to ensure even baking and keep the sweet potatoes from exploding in the air fryer, take a small knife or the tines of a fork and pierce the skin of the potatoes 5-6 times per potato.
- Pick the right sweet potatoes – when it comes to sweet potatoes you want to pick a long, skinny potato, and pick ones that are similar in size so they’ll bake evenly. Rounder and bulbous sweet potatoes will cook unevenly, which is why I prefer the skinnier ones.
VARIATIONS OF BAKED SWEET POTATOES
There’s not too many ways to bake a sweet potato, but I’ll share a couple.
- Oven – No air fryer, no problem! The oven method is very easy and doesn’t really take any longer to bake.
- Baked in foil – for a softer skin, prepare sweet potatoes as directed, but wrap individually in foil before baking.
HOW TO SERVE BAKED SWEET POTATOES
- As a side dish
- Use leftover sweet potatoes and turn them into a delicious mashed sweet potato dish
- Stuffed
SWEET POTATO TOPPINGS
- Cinnamon Honey Butter
- Butter, chopped pecans, and marshmallows – pop these under the broiler for a minute to lightly toast the marshmallows
- Chili
- Butter, smoked paprika (or chili powder), and crumbled bacon
SWEET POTATO STUFFERS
STORING LEFTOVER SWEET POTATOES
Transfer leftovers to an airtight container or wrap tightly with foil and transfer to the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT USED IN THIS RECIPE
- Air Fryer – there are a TON of air fryers out there, but this is the model I have in my kitchen.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes scrubbed, rinsed and dried with paper towels
- 3-4 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a small knife or tines of a fork.
- Drizzle olive oil over clean sweet potatoes and rub into potatoes with your hands to coat.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper (if using). Place sweet potatoes on air fryer rack or basket, making sure to leave some space between them and not stacking them.
- Cook at 390 degrees for 40-50 minutes (depending on the size of your sweet potatoes), flipping over halfway through the cook time.
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Chef Tips
TO BAKE IN THE OVEN
- Complete steps 1-3 as directed.
- Bake at 425 F degrees for 45-50 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Connie says
Thank you for this amazing recipe for my baked yams or sweet potatoes for my Air Fryer . I did not get a recipe book for my air fryer . I bought it used but like new condition . Thank Connie
Janet says
What is the air fryer time please? It can’t be 40”. That’s oven time.
The Chunky Chef says
40-50 minutes is the air fryer time. Sweet potatoes are so dense that they don’t necessarily cook much quicker in the air fryer vs the oven. And bigger sweet potatoes definitely take longer than 40 minutes in the oven 🙂
Kay Eames says
My air fryer did not give instructions for baked whole sweet potatoes, this was helpful. I have a ninja 17 max air fryer
Renee says
Perfect sweet potatoes!
Christina says
They were perfectly cooked inside, thank you!
Louise says
Must say it was the star of a fantastic dinner of salmon panfried in olive oil, loads of garlic and generous drizzle of lemon, pink salt and pepper. Served with a bowl of salad greens, chopped avocados, chopped red onion and spring onion, a mozzarella di bufola, all drizzled by a great olive oil, well seasoned and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
The only difference from your cooking method is that i put the potatoes for 10 mins in the microwave and about the same time in the airfryer over a jacket of foil with oil etc. Took much, much less time to cook. Well done, i shall look up your other recipies.
Dana says
Is it Ok to put down a piece of foil on the air fryer basket
Before adding the sweet potatoes?
The Chunky Chef says
I would consult the manual of your specific air fryer, as different brands and models might have varying recommendations. Here is a general guide though https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/can-you-put-foil-in-an-air-fryer/