Air fryer baked sweet potatoes are one of the easiest ways to cook this delicious vegetable. They come out soft and fluffy inside with crisp, tasty skins, and they are totally fuss-free.
Serve them for an easy vegan lunch or dinner with your favourite fillings or enjoy them as a simple side dish. I'll show you how to cook them, how long they take, and how to get them right each time.
For more air fryer ideas, get my ebook Air Fry and check out my other Easy Vegan Air Fryer Recipes.
🧾 At a glance - air fryer baked sweet potatoes
⏲️ Ready in: 35 minutes
👪 Serves: 4
🍽 Calories: 123
🧾 Main ingredients: sweet potatoes, olive oil, salt & black pepper
👩🏻🍳 Suitable for: vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, egg-free, vegetarian & gluten-free
⭐Why you'll love them: These sweet jacket potatoes are easy to make, crispy outside, fluffy inside, and perfect for your favourite vegan toppings with no fuss.
Summarise & save this recipe:
Jump to:
- 🧾 At a glance - air fryer baked sweet potatoes
- ♨️ Energy-efficient cooking
- 📋 Key Ingredients
- 👩🏻🍳 How do you cook sweet potatoes in an air fryer?
- 💭 Jac's Sweet Potato Tips
- 🍴 Should you eat the skin?
- 🥣 Sweet Potato fillings
- 🌡️ Storing leftover baked sweet potatoes
- 👩🏻🍳 Reheating baked sweet potatoes
- 💭 Air Fryer Sweet Potato FAQs
- 🧾 Serve sweet potatoes with these salads
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
♨️ Energy-efficient cooking
An air fryer is such a must-have countertop kitchen appliance.
- It cooks quicker than the oven and is more efficient when cooking smaller amounts of food
- Doesn't heat the kitchen (so perfect in the summer) and it's cheaper to run, as it uses less energy (nearly half) than the oven.
If you want to know which air fryer I use, check out my Air Fryer Guide.
📋 Key Ingredients
This is a very basic recipe that's more about technique and timings, with lots of filling ideas and tips.
For the full recipe with timings, see the recipe card.
- Olive oil - I like to use a good quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for maximum flavour.
- Herbs & spices - a basic baked sweet potato is seasoned with salt and pepper, but you can add herbs or spices to the oil before rubbing it on the potatoes for a pop of flavour.
👩🏻🍳 How do you cook sweet potatoes in an air fryer?
Sweet potatoes are super easy to bake in an air fryer.
- Wash them
- Prick them with a fork or knife
- Rub the skin with olive oil
- Season with salt and pepper
- Bake in the air fryer until soft
See the full printable recipe with tips, temperature, and times at the bottom of the post.
Also, try these Air Fryer Roast Potatoes on my other blog Tinned Tomatoes, no parboiling, and they are flavoured with a hint of garlic.
Leftover sweet potatoes? Try this Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Soup and if you have a soup maker, you might like this Harissa Soup Maker Sweet Potato Soup
💭 Jac's Sweet Potato Tips
Here are a few tips for the best baked sweet potatoes.
- Choose smooth sweet potatoes with no dark patches; avoid any with wrinkled skin.
- When you've washed the potatoes, dry them well; it will help with a crispier skin.
- Prick them well, all over.
- For an even crispier skin, open the air fryer halfway through and brush the skin with oil again.
If you enjoy cooking vegetables this way, take a look at my Easy Air Fryer Vegetable Recipes for more quick and crispy vegetable ideas.
🍴 Should you eat the skin?
Yes, definitely eat the skin.
As with other root vegetables like carrots and parsnips, there's lots of fibre and nutrients in and just under the skin.
So, as long as you've washed them well, leave the skin on and eat it too.
🥣 Sweet Potato fillings
These air fryer sweet potatoes make a great base for lunch or dinner. Try these Plant-Based Baked Potato Fillings, from classic vegan cheese and coleslaw to chilli, lentils or baked beans or keep it simple with these easy fillings:
- Vegan Butter - Vegan butter, salt and black pepper
- Salsa - Salsa, guacamole and vegan sour cream
- Sour cream- vegan sour cream, mixed with chives
- Spinach - wilted spinach flavoured with nutmeg and either vegan sour cream or mayo
- Whipped feta - try this recipe for Vegan Whipped Feta
🌡️ Storing leftover baked sweet potatoes
Once cool, sweet potatoes can be kept in the fridge or frozen.
Wrap in foil and store in the fridge for 3-4 days, then reheat when required.
Freeze in freezer bags for up to 3 months, then defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat.
👩🏻🍳 Reheating baked sweet potatoes
Leftover sweet potatoes can be reheated in the air fryer.
Pop them back in for 10 minutes until they are warmed through.
💭 Air Fryer Sweet Potato FAQs
Yes, you can air fry raw sweet potatoes; there is no need to pre-cook them. However, if you want to speed things up, you could cook them for 10 minutes in a microwave first, then air fry for 15 minutes.
There are 3 common mistakes: not drying them well before cooking, not giving them space so the skins can crisp up, or cooking them too high so the outside browns before the inside cooks.
Yes, definitely prick them with a fork or poke holes in them with a skewer; this will let steam escape and allow them to cook evenly.
Either option works well, but an oven takes much longer to bake the sweet potatoes and uses more energy, making it a more costly option.
No, never peel the potatoes, just give them a good wash and dry before baking them in the air fryer. The skins add extra fibre and nutrients and crisp up nicely.
🧾 Serve sweet potatoes with these salads
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📖 Recipe
Easy air fryer baked sweet potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Wash the sweet potatoes and dry them well.
- Prick them all over with a fork or knife tip.
- Rub with oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place in the air fryer on shelves or the basket of an air fryer, leaving a space between them.
- Bake at 200c/400f for 30-35 minutes until soft (Cooking depend on the size of your sweet potatoes, larger ones can take 40 minutes or more. They're ready when a knife slides easily into the centre).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- For the best potatoes, choose smooth-skinned sweet potatoes that don't have black marks on the skin and are of a similar size, so they cook evenly at the same time.
- I often like to sprinkle with herbs, spices or chilli flakes once you have oiled the potatoes for more flavour in the skins.
- If you are using more than one shelf in an air fryer, rotate partway through as the top shelf cooks quicker.
- Once cool, sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge wrapped in foil for 3-4 days, then reheat when required. Freeze in freezer bags for up to 3 months, then defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat.
Nutrition
Phil says
just bought an air fryer this was just what I needed.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh perfect! You are going to love it.
Dana says
These are so sweet and creamy and delicious! I could just eat one of these for a meal and be happy 🙂
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yes very soft and creamy and a healthy option too.
Aimee Mars says
We eat so many sweet potatoes in my house, but I've never tried them in the air fryer. Thank you for this recipe cause I'm going to use it next week for an easy dinner.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh excellent and yes they are always good. You'll enjoy them in the air fryer.
April says
Just had to replace my airfryer, and it's huge! Can't wait to make these delicious beauties in it!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Mine is just a mid-sized one as I have a small kitchen. Couldn't be without it though.
Lima Ekram says
Just got a new air fryer and was looking for some quick and easy recipes! This was amazing - and so simple too!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Lima. It's a good basic recipe to have.
Gloria says
I love my air fryer. These potatoes look perfect. A nice change from regular white or Russett potatoes.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yes I love my air fryer too and yes these make a nice change from white potatoes.
Megan says
Okay this is the easiest way to make sweet potatoes I've ever tried, saving this to make again in the fall!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yes it is super simple and quicker than making them in the oven. Glad you enjoyed them.
Jill says
Another easy recipe to try. Thanks Jacqueline x Jill
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Aww you are so welcome Jill. Thanks for supporting both of my blogs.
George says
Just what I needed. I just bought an air fryer last week. I will check out your other recipes too.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Excellent! I am so you will love it. I use mine all the time.