These air fryer sweet potatoes are the perfect recipe for your next holiday gathering or for an easy side dish option! With only 2 ingredients, they can be made in under 40 minutes and yield a perfectly tender and delicious sweet potato!
Cooking whole sweet potatoes in the air fryer is an easy, mess-free way to cook a sweet potato. Simply pop them in the air fryer, set the timer, and come back about 40 minutes later to a tender and soft sweet potato!
After you make this recipe, be sure to check out my other sweet potato recipes! My family loves these oven-baked sweet potato slices, healthy sweet potato healthy sweet potato fries and this sweet potato and ground turkey skillet!
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Reasons to Love This Recipe
Cooking a whole sweet potato in the air fryer creates a crispy skin with a soft and tender inside. This is perfect if you are only needing to cook a small batch of sweet potatoes and don’t want to turn on the oven. It is also great if you are cooking a piece of meat in the air fryer and want to throw in a sweet potato along with the meat.
- Sweet potatoes are an easy and nutritious side dish to eat during mealtime. They are loaded with Vitamin A!
- Sweet potatoes pair well with almost any entrée. You can serve them as a side, or top them with bbq meat, such as in this bbq chicken and sweet potato recipe!
- Sweet potatoes are also very easy to meal prep. They hold up well for multiple days in the refrigerator and reheat quickly in the microwave at meal times.
Ingredients Needed
Sweet Potatoes- choose a medium-sized sweet potato. If using two sweet potatoes, choose an appropriate size so that the sweet potatoes can fit in the air fryer without touching each other. Yams can also be used.
Olive Oil – used to brush on the skin of the sweet potato. Canola oil can be substituted.
How To Pick A Good Sweet Potato
- Choose a sweet potato that does not have any large bruises, cracks or blemishes.
- Avoid sweet potatoes that have a wrinkled skin.
- Look for a sweet potato that does not have long vines or strings attached.
- Pick a sweet potato that is a red/orange color as this version is known to be more moist. The tan/purple colored sweet potatoes are a more dry potato.
Step by Step Instructions
Scrub the sweet potatoes with a vegetable brush to remove any dirt. Run under warm water. Using a fork, pierce the sweet potato about 10 different times throughout the entire potato. Push down with the fork about 1 cm deep. This allows steam to escape while cooking the potatoes.
Preheat the air fryer. Brush olive oil outside the sweet potatoes using a pastry brush. Add the prepared sweet potatoes to the basket. The sweet potatoes should be spaced out so that they are not overlapping.
Cook for 40 minutes. Sweet potatoes are done when a knife can be poked through the center and they are soft.
How Long to Cook Sweet Potatoes in the Air Fryer
The sweet potato's cook time will vary based on the brand of air fryer used and depending on the cooking temperature. I have found that 375F is the best temperature to cook sweet potatoes. Any higher temperature has made the skins too crispy.
The cooking time will vary based on the size of the sweet potato used. Below are some common cook times that I have been successful with. Check to see if the sweet potato is done by sticking a knife in the middle to check if it is tender.
Small Sweet Potato: 35 minutes at 375F
Medium Sized Sweet Potato: 40 minutes at 375F
Large Sized Sweet Potato: 45-50 minutes at 375F
Recommended Toppings
My favorite part about sweet potatoes is the toppings! There are so many different ingredients that can be added to the top of a sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are versatile and can be topped with either sweet toppings or savory toppings.
- Butter
- Honey
- Cinnamon
- Syrup
- Chopped Walnuts
- Marshmallows
- BBQ Chicken
- Taco Meat
- Salt, pepper and butter
Leftovers
Store the sweet potatoes in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to cut the sweet potatoes in half before storing them in the refrigerator. This helps the steam escape and makes them cool down faster.
Never store a hot sweet potato wrapped in foil in the refrigerator. This can cause the growth of harmful bacteria.
Reheat the sweet potatoes in the microwave or the oven. Cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise and sprinkle a teaspoon of water over the insides to prevent it from drying out.
Heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until steaming hot. This can also be reheated in the oven at 350F until hot.
Serving Suggestions
- Pair as a side dish to a main entree, such as this hot honey chicken, spicy adobo chicken or honey chipotle chicken.
- Mash the sweet potato and serve it on an egg white wrap with butter and honey.
- Use the sweet potato as a base - top with asian turkey meatballs or air fryer turkey meatballs. It would also be great under some spicy southwest chicken salad.
- Add protein by topping with bbq chicken. Here's an easy recipe for bbq chicken stuffed sweet potatoes.
Expert Tips
- Poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork before cooking. This helps the steam escape and the potato to cook evenly.
- Fluff the sweet potato with a fork before adding your toppings.
- Flip the sweet potatoes halfway through cooking to prevent them from burning.
- Use a medium-sized sweet potato. A smaller or larger sweet potato will need an adjusted cooking time.
Sweet Potato Nutrition Information
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin A. According to the USDA, 1 medium sweet potato contains 368% of Daily Value of Vitamin A.
Sweet potatoes are a nutrient-dense food. Providing only 120 calories per small potato, they are low in calories, yet high in nutrients. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber, especially if you eat the skin. They have 4 grams of fiber per serving.
More Vegetable Dishes
Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- ½ tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 375F.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt. Pat dry with a paper towel.
- Use a fork to pierce holes in the sweet potato in about 10 different spots.
- Use a pastry brush to brush olive oil lightly onto the sweet potato.
- Once the air fryer has preheated, place the sweet potatoes in the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Sweet potatoes are done when they are tender in the center. Test this by sticking a knife in the center of the potato. Remove and serve warm. Enjoy!
Notes
- small sweet potato: cook for 35 minutes
- medium sweet potato: cook for 40 minutes
- large sweet potato: cook for 45-50 minutes
Dylan Mcpheron
Hi! I realize this is kind of off-topic however I needed to ask. Does running a well-established blog like yours take a large amount of work? I am brand new to blogging however I do write in my journal every day. I'd like to start a blog so I can easily share my personal experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!
Ashlee Welter
If you are interested, definitely go for it!
Maggie
Yummy! Great idea to use the air fryer to cook the sweet potato. I appreciate the suggestions of the various toppings. Terrific ideas! Thank you!