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.
Denise says
Simple and oh, so good!
Bob says
I don’t know if it was good or not. I put it in my mouth and before I knew it, the potato bite had slid Ross my tongue, down my throat, and hid behind my belly button. I guess I’ll have to make it a few more times to try to taste it before it repeats the process.
Stanley says
Sounds really delicious I’m going to try it tonight
Karie says
Trying this recipe for the 1st time tonight..was very easy to put together with minimal mess (I used cracked pepper and that goes everywhere)….
Cheri Talbot says
I enjoy your page very much thank you very much for doing this it’s an honor to meet you thank you Cheri Talbot
Lima says
The Best Friendly Simplicity Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes. It is so fluffy, tasty and wonderful. I will not use it for the Holiday’s only, my family loves it so, it’ll be used year-round. Besides my Doctor & Dietician instructed me not to eat any starchy potatoes and rice due to my prediabetes, since my body can’t efficiently remove sugar from my blood (I’m 125 lbs., 4’11” tiniest mother, spouse & children towers over me 5’8″+). Hope you don’t mind I passed on your awesome recipe to my Dietician she said she did tried it she likes the easy with great silky smoothness taste. Thank you.
Ruby Bunch says
I baked according to recipe and they are so good
Mary says
Wondering if you put your air fryer on “air fry” or “bake”? My air fryer has both these options.
The Chunky Chef says
I would do air fry 🙂
Eileen says
Great simple recipe that comes out perfect. Thank you!
Andrea Kunert says
I had an extremely big sweet potato I’m trying to cook it the way y’all say I will let you know if it turns out OK
Cher says
Can’t wait to try it out. Ill let you know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Sandi says
Should they be wrapped in foil for the AF, like I do for the oven?
The Chunky Chef says
Nope, no need to wrap them 🙂
Sandi says
I’ve never pierced the skin before, when cooked in the oven (I do for the microwave of course but not the oven). I just wrapped in foil. What’s the purpose of it and is it really necessary? However, today will be my 1st time in the air fryer so I’ll follow your instructions fully. Mine are big around tho, not slimmer like yours so I bet they’ll take even longer. I’m a newbie with air frying as of this week, so film at eleven as they say.
The Chunky Chef says
I just like to cover my bases and pierce the potatoes before baking and air frying, just to be on the safe side. Hope they turned out well for you 🙂
Rita says
1. Wrapping potatoes in foil doesn’t really bake them….the foil causes them to steam, making them less likely to dry out and turn fluffy. Also, their skins will not crisp.
2. I once baked some potatoes without piercing them. One of them exploded. Always. Always. Always. Pierce. Baking Potatoes.
Cvbridge says
Sooo, easy and good. Thanks
Janice Butler says
Sounds good. Going to try out our airfryer. Will let you know my 1st results.
Amanda summerton says
Just put clear instructions on the amount of time needed to air fry these things. Not helpful at all.
Amanda says
Apparently you missed the recipe card in which step 4 specifically lists the time needed to cook the sweet potatoes.
Judith Quinn says
Thank you Amanda I’m older and in bad health and I love sweet potatoes and I’m grateful for your recipe I’m trying it this evening or tomorrow
Shelly says
Amanda. We enjoy all your recipes!! Love the simplicity of this sweet potato recipe! Enjoy your email subscription also. Thanks You!!
Patricia Dipasquale says
All your recipes I have sampled are excellent.
Kellie says
Hey Amanda, I haven’t tried to do these in my new air fryer yet but thanks for the recipe. I have finally managed to master the crispy skin in the oven, though. When I first put them in I have no seasoning or oil on them. I take them out after about 25 mins & baste them with a mixture of melted butter or margarine, salt, pepper & fresh squeezed garlic. Then I pop them back in for another 25 mins (depending on size). Beautiful, tasty skin. I reckon this would work in the air fryer too, just with reduced cooking times ☺️
Peggy Dannenberger says
Thanks for the help, Will be back , Sure was good.
Debbie says
I just put my sweet potato in the air fryer we’ll see how it goes in 40 mins