This air fryer sweet potato recipe is incredibly easy to make, and cooks up in less time than in a traditional oven! It’s crispy on the outside yet tender and creamy on the inside. Serve it as a side dish, or load it with toppings for a complete meal.
Just like regular air fryer potatoes, sweet potatoes are another addition to my ever-growing collection of air fryer recipes.
An air fryer is one of those kitchen appliances that really lives up to its name and makes cooking such a breeze! It’s more hands-off than an oven, heats up instantly, and the food comes out just as good (if not better). What’s not to love?
Why This Recipe Works
- Time-saving: Save as much as 20 minutes by using the air fryer over a standard convection oven. Plus, no preheating is necessary.
- Frees up the oven: While the sweet potatoes are in the air fryer, your oven is free to make other recipes to serve alongside it.
- Simple: All you need is sweet potatoes, butter, and salt in this easy-to-make recipe.
- Healthy: Sweet potatoes are packed full of vitamins and minerals, making them a perfectly healthy side to pair with proteins and other mains.
What Are The Best Sweet Potatoes For Air Frying?
With so many different varieties of sweet potatoes, I’ve narrowed down the best ones for air frying, plus which ones to avoid:
- Orange skin and flesh: These varieties include Red Garnet or Jewel sweet potatoes. They seem to cook the best, leaving an almost caramelized skin and moist flesh. I prefer long and skinny potatoes to round and short ones because they cook more evenly.
- Tan or purple skin: Potatoes like Sweet Hannah, Japanese, or Purple tend to dry out when they’re cooked in the air fryer. I don’t recommend these varieties for air frying.
Note: The term yam and sweet potato are often used interchangeably in North American grocery stores. True yams are very hard to find, have thicker skin, and are even more starchy than Purple sweet potatoes.
Ingredients For Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
See the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below.
- Sweet potatoes: Look for sweet potatoes that are similar in size, which will help them cook more evenly. Also, avoid sweet potatoes with any discolorations, soft spots, deep gashes, etc.
- Butter: Who can resist the combination of sweet potatoes and warm butter? The saltiness of the butter really brings out the sweetness of the potatoes. If you want, you can also use margarine, but I prefer real butter!
- Seasonings: I kept things simple with just salt, but you can get creative with your seasonings (I’ve listed ideas in the variations section).
How to Make Sweet Potatoes In The Air Fryer
Step 1: Wash the potatoes
Wash the outside of however many potatoes you’ll be air frying. Make sure to scrub them thoroughly with a dish sponge or brillo pad to remove any dirt and debris from the skins.
Step 2: Air fry the sweet potatoes
Place the sweet potatoes inside your air fryer basket. Set it to 380F, and cook the sweet potatoes in the air fryer for 40 minutes.
You’ll know they are done when you can easily pierce through the center with a fork. The cook time may vary slightly depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.
Step 3: Add butter and seasonings
Split the potatoes in half, then season them with butter, salt, and any other seasonings that you enjoy!
How To Serve Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
Just like oven-baked sweet potatoes, air fryer sweet potatoes make an excellent addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas spread.
Serve them alongside a Crockpot turkey breast, spiral ham, green bean casserole, Southern cornbread dressing, turkey gravy, and homemade cranberry sauce for the ultimate feast!
Recipe Variations
- Oven-baked: Although it takes a little longer, you can easily follow the same steps and bake the sweet potatoes in your oven.
- Seasonings: In addition to salt, try cinnamon, garlic powder, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cayenne, paprika, turmeric, or garam masala.
- Casseroles: Make single-serving sweet potato casseroles by adding brown sugar to the butter, and topping the potatoes with mini marshmallows or candied pecans.
- Stuffed: Make stuffed sweet potatoes with ground chicken, spinach, melted cheese green onions, and sour cream.
- Twice-baked: Scoop out the flesh of the sweet potatoes, and turn them into twice-baked sweet potatoes instead!
Tips For The Best Recipe
- Poking is optional: Many people recommend poking sweet potatoes before air frying them, which is supposed to speed up the cooking process. I personally find this unnecessary and quite a lot messier. This is just a matter of preference.
- Scrub, scrub, scrub: Since the skins won’t be peeled away, remember to give the sweet potatoes a thorough scrub and towel dry before placing them in the air fryer!
- Adjust your temperature: All air fryers are slightly different, so you may need to adjust the temperature or cooking time a touch. Don’t worry though, it’s pretty difficult to overcook sweet potatoes.
- Use foil: You can wrap the sweet potatoes in foil, which creates an extra tender texture and makes for an easy clean-up.
What To Do With Leftovers
- Fridge: Once your sweet potatoes have cooled, store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Transfer the sweet potatoes to a freezer-safe bag or container, and store them for up to 6 months in the freezer.
- Reheat: Warm up your sweet potatoes in the air fryer at 400 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes.
Additional Recipes
If you enjoyed the simplicity of this air fryer sweet potato recipe, here are some more of my most popular air fryer recipes for you to try:
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take sweet potatoes to cook in the air fryer?
Sweet potatoes take about 40 minutes at 380 degrees F in the air fryer.
Do you have to soak sweet potatoes before air frying?
No, you don’t have to soak sweet potatoes before air-frying them. In fact, the dryer the sweet potato is, the better it will crisp up.
Why are my sweet potatoes not crispy in the air fryer?
If your sweet potatoes aren’t crisping up in the air fryer, it’s likely the cause of too much moisture. Once you wash your potatoes, make sure they are dry by patting them with a cloth. Next, ensure there is no overcrowding in the basket. Leave enough room for the air to properly circulate.
Easy Air Fryer Sweet Potato Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- sweet potatoes
Seasoning Ideas
- salt
- butter
- Other seasoning as desired
Instructions
- Place the sweet potatoes inside your air fryer basket. Set it to 380F, and cook the sweet potatoes in the air fryer for 40 minutes.
- You’ll know they are done when you can easily pierce through the center with a fork. The cook time may vary slightly depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.
- Split the potatoes in half, then season them with butter, salt, and any other seasonings that you enjoy!
