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Learn how to bake sweet potatoes in your air fryer in under 20 minutes. I love how perfectly fluffy and tender they turn out every time!
Love vegetables in the air fryer? Try my air fryer carrots, air fryer French fries, and air fryer cauliflower.
You may already be familiar with my air fryer sweet potato fries, but have you tried using it to bake a whole sweet potato? It tastes like classic oven-baked sweet potatoes but cooks in a fraction of the time!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Quick and easy. Flip, wait, flip, and that’s it! In less than twenty minutes, the potatoes are cooked to golden perfection.
- Healthier. Compared to oil and butter roasted potatoes, these have a fraction of the calories! Also, sweet potatoes are packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals, slow releasing carbohydrates, and tons of potassium (source).
- Versatile. Like air fryer baked potato, these make a fabulous side dish
- Perfect texture. Crispy skin with a soft and creamy inside.
Ingredients needed
No need to go to the grocery store with a lengthy ingredient list, with just some basics, probably already available in your pantry. Here is what you’ll need:
- Sweet potatoes. When choosing sweet potatoes, look for ones with firm skin and very few, if any, wrinkles. In terms of types, I’ve successfully made these with orange garnet potatoes, Japanese sweet potatoes, and even Beauregard.
- Olive oil or avocado oil. I tested these with some butter rubbed on them and preferred the oil. Use the butter as a topping!
- Salt and pepper. To taste.
- Toppings. Anything and everything. Keep things sweet with cinnamon, maple syrup, and butter, or go the savory route with some sour cream, cheese, black beans, salsa, and chives. Of course, nothing beats a sprinkle of pecans, mini marshmallows, and brown sugar.
How to make baked sweet potatoes in the air fryer
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep work. Start by poking holes in sweet potatoes with a fork. Then, toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper before air frying.
Step 2- Air fry. Next, put them in the air fryer basket and cook for 18-20 minutes or until they are fork-tender.
Step 3- Slice and serve. Finally, cut in the middle to release some steam. Add some butter and/or your favorite toppings.
Sweet potato baking time
The ideal temperature to bake the sweet potatoes is 200C/400F. Cooking time may vary, though, based on how big or small the sweet potatoes are. Also, take into consideration if you choose to dice or cube them, too.
Here is a rundown for them depending on how you cut them:
- Diced sweet potatoes – 7 to 12 minutes
- Cubed sweet potatoes – 12 to 15 minutes
- Whole sweet potatoes – 20 to 50 minutes
Recipe tips and variations
- Shake the air fryer several times during the cooking process so all sides of the sweet potato are evenly cooked.
- Don’t overcrowd the air fryer. If needed, I suggest air-frying the potatoes in batches.
- You must poke holes in the sweet potatoes to prevent them from bursting in the air fryer (trust me, it isn’t fun!).
- Wrapping sweet potatoes in tin foil is a fabulous idea when oven-baking, but they actually don’t work well for the air fryer. It softens the skin, which in turn yields soggy sweet potatoes.
Storage instructions
To store: Put the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
To freeze: Place the cooked and cooled potatoes in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating: Ideally, reheat the sweet potatoes in the air fryer, but they are fine in the microwave too.
Leftover idea
I often air fryer sweet potatoes to use in many of my desserts. Cool the sweet potatoes, remove the skins, then mash them. From there, you can use them in tons of my sweet potato recipes, like healthy sweet potato casserole, vegan sweet potato pie, sweet potato pancakes, or sweet potato brownies.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s not necessary to soak sweet potatoes before air frying because they don’t have the same amount of starch as you get in regular white potatoes.
No air fryer? No problem. You can follow the same process as my stuffed sweet potatoes, which are baked in the oven, or my microwave sweet potato, which cooks in the microwave. Just skip the stuffing step (unless that is what you’d like!).
More air fryer recipes to try
- Air fryer brussels sprouts
- Air fryer broccoli
- Air fryer frozen green beans
- Air fryer asparagus
- Air fryer buffalo cauliflower
- Air fryer zucchini
Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 200C/400F.
- Poke holes in the sweet potatoes, then rub them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Place them in the air fryer basket and air fry for 18-20 minutes, or until soft.
- Let the sweet potatoes sit for 5 minutes, before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published September 2022, updated and republished March 2024
These turned out great! My sweet potatoes were pretty big so it took a bit longer but worked well!!
Sweet potatoes are one of my favourite carb sources. I will make this.
What temp?
I agree thank
You for believing in others and encouraging first time for any person which I believe marks a great teacher and a person who wants any person to succeed which the world needs more people that help the broken people believe that they are capable to do anything nothing is impossible and you do not need experience we learn when we try and try again fear is weak and does nothing good in the world and it prevents people to believe.
What temperature?
200c/400F
great, love sweet potatoes and haven’t yet tried them in an air fryer, thank you