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Baked Sweet Potato in the Air Fryer

Introducing the best way to achieve flawlessly roasted sweet potatoes! This baked sweet potato in the air fryer recipe uses the natural sugars in the sweet potato to caramelize them to perfection. 

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Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato cut in half with butter in the middle

As much as I love spending time in my kitchen, I also love how little time and effort using my air fryer requires. As a mom, time is so precious. Less time spent preparing meals means more time I can spend with my family!

I’m always on the hunt for recipes that I can try out with my favorite kitchen appliance. Air fryer recipes call for so much less energy and clean-up – without sacrificing taste. That’s a win-win in my book.

This baked sweet potato in the air fryer recipe checks all of my boxes: potatoes that are soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, and sweet. Plus, it’s so simple to make! Feel free to keep it vegan and eat it with just a bit of sea salt. 

However you want to enjoy this dish, once you try an air fryer baked sweet potato, you’ll never go back to traditional roasting!

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Here’s what I’m going to teach you in this post: 

  • The best way to make healthy baked sweet potato in the air fryer.
  • Topping suggestions for baked sweet potatoes, plus other air fried sweet potato recipes to try!
  • Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about air fryer baked sweet potato.

If you love homemade roasted sweet potatoes as much as I do, you’re going to want to bookmark this recipe! Keep reading for the best tips and tricks for making sweet potato in the air fryer.

Air Fryer I recommend: Large, easy to clean, square basket, burner on top and bottom. Click to see it.
2 raw whole sweet potatoes in air fryer

How to Make a Baked Sweet Potato in the Air Fryer

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

STEP ONE: Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F.

While it heats, prepare your sweet potatoes by washing and scrubbing them. Dry them with a clean towel. Leave the skins on – they are edible and very healthy!

STEP TWO: Poke holes in each sweet potato using a fork. This step is essential! If you skip it, you could end up with some seriously burnt potatoes. 

STEP THREE: Lightly coat the sweet potatoes with oil and salt. Place them in the air fryer and cook for 35-40 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the air fryer, slice, and serve.

2 cooked sweet potatoes inside air fryer

The Best Toppings for Baked Sweet Potatoes

You can enjoy an air fryer sweet potato with a bit of salt and pepper (especially if you want to keep this recipe vegan), or you can add some melted butter. Try these toppings if you want to take your air fried yams up a notch:

  • Sour cream and chives
  • Blue cheese with walnuts and honey
  • Brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter
  • Toasted pecans, maple syrup, and butter
  • Marshmallows, brown sugar, and cinnamon
  • Yogurt sauce and veggies

Other Sweet Potato Air Fryer Recipes 

This one isn’t an air fryer recipe, but so delicious I have to share our Sweet Potato Casserole recipe.

Title and Shown: Air Fryer Potatoes -- roasted and sweet (on a white plate)

Do You Have to Soak Sweet Potatoes in Water Before Air Frying? 

Unlike regular white potatoes, sweet potatoes contain a lot less starch. That means you aren’t required to soak them in water before you begin your air fry sweet potato recipe!

Just one more reason to love these healthy yams.

Air Fryer Sweet Potato cut in half with butter in the middle

How Long to Cook Sweet Potatoes in an Air Fryer

Make sure that your air fryer is heated to 400 degrees F. Place your sweet potatoes in the air fryer basket.

Don’t forget to poke holes in each potato! Cook at 400 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.

When you notice bits of the sweet potato oozing out of the fork holes, your baked sweet potato in the air fryer is finished.

How to Store Leftover Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes 

If you have any leftover air fryer baked sweet potatoes, place them in an airtight container, like a Ziplock bag or the like. They will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. 

Be aware: freezing leftover homemade air fryer sweet potato can alter the texture of the dish, so I don’t recommend it. This is one of those recipes that tastes great when it’s freshly made!

Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato cut open and fluffed with butter and fork in the middle of it

How to Reheat Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Air Fryer

If you want to meal prep a few air fried baked sweet potatoes, you can easily reheat them in your air fryer.

Simply preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F. Cut your roasted sweet potatoes in half if you haven’t yet. Place the sweet potatoes in the air fryer basket and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until heated thoroughly. Easy peasy!

Why Do You Need to Poke Holes in Sweet Potatoes?

Poking holes allows the sweet potatoes to let off steam while cooking. As the sweet potato cooks, the inside builds up pressure from the steam.

If the sweet potato doesn’t have anywhere to vent that steam, it could explode or just taste and smell horrible.

It’s happened to me! I microwaved a whole sweet potato without poking it and it burned from the inside out. I kid you not.

It only takes about 15 seconds to prick each potato, so just spend the extra minute and do it.

Closeup of baked sweet potato open on top with butter melting

Other Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love:

Air Fryer Weight Watcher Points per serving: 1

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Yield: 2 servings

Baked Sweet Potato in the Air Fryer

Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato cut in half with butter in the middle

A fluffy roasted sweet potato that is air fried to bring out its sweetest flavor.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
  2. Using a fork, poke holes into the skin of the sweet potatoes.
  3. Coat sweet potato skins completely with oil and salt.
  4. Carefully place potatoes into the air fryer and cook for 35-40 minutes until a caramelization can be seen around the fork holes and sweet potato is easily pierced with a fork.
  5. Slice in half, let cool until just warm, then enjoy!

Notes

How to Reheat a Baked Sweet Potato in an Air Fryer:

1. Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees.

2. Cut sweet potatoes in half, if not already, then cook in the air fryer for 5 to 6 minutes until warmed.

3. Remove from the air fryer and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 75Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 286mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g

This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.

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samantha

About Samantha

I’ve always had a love of cooking and creating new recipes, so it only made sense to create a food blog so I could share those recipes with you. This site is designed to provide easy and flavorful recipes with as little ingredients as possible. That means you still get great flavor combinations without all that extra time and effort. Read more...

6 thoughts on “Baked Sweet Potato in the Air Fryer”

    • Hi JoAnn, all air fryer recipes on the site will use the air fryer button on your machine! This will create the 360 air circulation you need to crisp up the food evenly. Using the “bake” feature will turn your air fryer into more of a standard oven/toaster oven.

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