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.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
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.
Martin Oberndorfer says
Great recipe, thanks!!
Monique says
I read the instruction you do not state to use the bake or air fry feature. That would have been helpful. In the future please be clear, when giving instructions I assumed I was to use the bake feature on my air fryer.
Amanda says
My model doesn’t have a “bake” setting vs. “air fry”, so there wasn’t an option for me. I can’t write recipes to every models specifications, unfortunately. I wouldn’t think the setting would change the result, but again, I don’t know what brand/model air fryer you have.
frustrated says
this page is ridiculous. Time, honey, give people the time. Good grief
Amanda says
Hmm, you must have missed the actual recipe at the end of the post… which you scrolled right past to leave this comment. Step 4 of the recipe details the cooking time.
Rachel says
Great Recipe! Perfectly explained instructions including baking time. Thanks Amanda!
Mark says
There’s a tab at the top that says “recipe” with an arrow indicating that if you click it, you’ll be directed right to the recipe. I love how people blame Amanda for their lack of technical abilities. Love your stuff! 😊
Rachel says
How rude!
Al says
Simple, delicious, and easy clean up.
Debra Green says
My husband & I both LOVE the sweet potatoes!
Linda Wyatt says
Delicious sweet potatoes.
Tanya says
How did you make the honey cinnamon butter??
The Chunky Chef says
The Cinnamon Honey Butter was a link, it takes you here to the recipe 🙂 https://www.thechunkychef.com/cinnamon-honey-butter/
Nelly says
OMG! The perfect sweet potato, fluffy inside, crisp outside, made cinnamon honey butter (AWESOME) Thank You Chunky chef!
Melanie says
My sweet potatoes came out perfectly and were delicious!
Patti says
I am just learning how to use my new air fryer and thought I would give the Air Fryer Sweet Baked Potatoes a try. I followed instructions exactly and was rewarded with the most perfectly cooked (crispy on outside and fluffy on inside) baked sweet potatoes I ever made (I have been cooking for 50 years🤫). I cooked 4 same sized sweet potatoes for 45 min. – delicious! These will now be added to our regular rotation with great anticipation. Thank you Chunky Chef!
ray says
Absolutely wonderful sweet potatoes.No mess, the kitchen isn’t hot, no cleanup.
Peggy says
My Airfryer has racks. How does it differ from the basket type for baking the sweet potato?
The Chunky Chef says
I’m not entirely sure, as I’ve only made this recipe as written.
Sarah says
I’m making this for my dinner for the third night in a row. The sweet potatoes turn out perfect, I love them. These are the best sweet potatoes I’ve had.
Diamira Diaz says
Mega love it!!!
Irene says
How much time for 1 large sweet potato?
jade manning says
How quick and easy does this look!!
Sara Welch says
Another great recipe for my air fryer! I love enjoying sweet potatoes in the fall; delish!
Taylor says
The easiest way to make sweet potatoes! Perfect every time!
Melanie says
Delicious + easy? Hello, hello new favorite side dish!
Deseree says
What a great idea for a side dish and I love that these are cooked right in my air fryer. I am now going to enjoy these multiple times a week.
Demeter says
I’m always up for a healthier ways to cook. This is such a great idea to use the air fryer.