This delicious Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato recipe is made with only three simple ingredients for a quick healthy dinner. Bonus, this is a gluten-free, vegan-approved air fryer recipe perfect for meat-free Mondays.
I love making delicious meals with my air fryer. I’ve become a pro at cooking to perfection my Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges, Air Fryer Cauliflower, or Air Fryer Sweet Potato Cubes.
When I cook in the air fryer, I can make meals much healthier than deep-fried, quickly than in the oven, and they taste just the same or even better.
What Are Baked Sweet Potatoes?
Baked sweet potatoes are whole sweet potatoes baked in the oven for a long time, usually about 90 minutes. It’s a delicious side dish or meal filled with any plant-based protein like baked beans or lentil meat.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Medium-Sized Sweet Potato – Don’t use large varieties. They are way too long to air-fry. Also, use orange sweet potatoes for the best result. Read my section below for types on how to choose the right sweet potato for baking.
- Olive Oil – or any high smoke point oil like avocado oil.
Sweet Potato Variety Choice
The key to making a dish with sweet potato is to choose the right variety based on what you intend to cook. For a crispy skin and sweet
- White Sweet Potatoes – the most popular are Hannah and Japanese varieties. They both have yellow-white skin and flesh similar to regular potatoes. These sweet potatoes are very starchy and best enjoyed as a puree.
- Orange Sweet Potatoes – the most popular are the Garnet, long and thin or Jewel, packed and wide. They have sweet and moist flesh that makes a great baked dish like a casserole or to make sweet potato fries.
- Purple Sweet Potatoes – their skin is purple, and flesh can be white/blue/purple depending on the variety. Their skin is rich, dense, and slightly dry, so not the best for baked sweet potato recipes. However, they are perfect for roasting or making fries.
How To Make Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato
Air Fried Baked Sweet Potatoes are very convenient, much faster to make, and low in fat. In fact, you need way less oil to make the sweet potato skin crispy and about half the cooking time.
- First, wash and scrub the skin of the sweet potato under tap water. Next, pat dry roughly with a clean kitchen towel and poke holes with a fork all over the surface of your sweet potatoes.
- In a bowl, mix olive oil, salt, and any flavoring you want like, garlic powder, onion powder, or dried herbs.
- Use your hands or a pastry brush to rub the sweet potatoes’ skin evenly with the olive oil mixture.
- Place the sweet potatoes on the air fryer basket, ensuring they don’t touch each other. You don’t have to add foil to the air fryer basket or parchment paper to the basket. The sweet potatoes will air-fry very well placed on the basket with nothing under them. Plus, they barely leak any liquid, which won’t make your clean-up process very intense. If you have a preheating function in your air fryer, you can use it, but it won’t change much in baking time.
- Set the air fryer temperature to 400°F (200°C) and air-fry for 40 minutes, flipping the sweet potato halfway with tongs to make sure they cook evenly on all sides.
- Now, cool down the sweet potatoes and then cut them halfway lengthwise. Next, scoop out the flesh from the skin, mash on a board with seasonings like salt, pepper, and a drizzle of garlic-infused oil or vegan butter.
- Then, return the mashed sweet potato into the skin, add topping like protein – beans, lentils, or vegan cheese.
- Return to the air fryer basket for 5 minutes at 400°F (200°C) until the filling is hot, the cheese melts, and the skin of the sweet potato crisps.
Baking Tips
- Air frying time depends on the size of the vegetable you put in the basket. Bigger sweet potatoes will take longer to cook through. Adjust the time accordingly!
- Always prick the sweet potato after 30 minutes to check if it’s ready to take out from the air fryer.
- The sweet potatoes are cooked when you can insert a knife blade in the center of the sweet potatoes.
Serving Air Fried Sweet Potatoes
These air fryer sweet potatoes are even better with extra toppings. Add some of the below options to your hot sweet potatoes.
Fresh chopped herbs, like:
- Dill
- Parsley
- Basil
Top the hot sweet potato with a dollop of:
- Vegan Sour cream
- Coconut yogurt
- Cucumber dip
- Almond ricotta
- Salsa
- Nacho cheese sauce
Storage Instructions
Store the baked sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw the day before in the fridge.
To rewarm sweet potatoes in the air fryer, add them to the basket and air fry for 10 to 12 minutes to 350°F (180°C) until hot and crispy.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Below I listed my other favorite air fryer recipes for you to try.
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Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 medium Sweet Potato - orange sweet potatoes
- 3 teaspoons Avocado Oil - or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
Baked Sweet Potatoes Filling per potato
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil - or (vegan) butter
- 1 tablespoon Chopped Chives - or parsley
- 1 pinch Salt
Instructions
- First, choose 3 orange sweet potatoes of roughly the same size and make sure they fit the size of your air fryer basket.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes under cold tap water to clean their skin and roughly pat dry the skin with a clean kitchen towel or absorbent paper. Next, use a fork or knife to pierce each sweet potato skin several times on all their surface.
- Rub the sweet potato skin with the olive oil mixture – you can use a pastry brush or massage by hand.
- Place the oil sweet potatoes in the air fryer basket, ensuring they don't touch each other.
- Air fry at 390°F (200°C) for 40 minutes, flipping them halfway using tongs – this makes sure they cook evenly on both sides. Keep air frying until soft in the center – you should be able to pierce the sweet potato with a knife, and the skin is crispy and golden brown. Note that cooking time varies based on the sweet potato size. The sweet potatoes are ready when you can easily insert a knife in the center, and the skin is crispy/golden. If not, keep air frying by an extra 5 minutes burst, checking every 5 minutes.
- Remove the baked sweet potatoes from the air fryer basket using tongs or oven mitten and transfer them to a chopping board. Cool for 10 minutes and serve straight away as a side or follow next steps for a boost of flavors!
Filling
- Slice the sweet potato down the center, lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the inside.
- Mash the scooped-out sweet potato flesh with a fork or potato masher and combine with any toppings like olive oil or vegan butter, salt, and pepper.
- Scoop the potato mixture back to the potato skin, top with anything you like – it can be baked beans, vegan cheese, etc.
- Air fry again at 350°F (180°C) until the filling is hot and the skin is ultra crispy.
- Serve with a dollop of vegan sour cream and fresh herbs.
Do you have to scoop and re-fry?? I ask because to have the potatoes cooked through and not opened would make a great addition to my lunch options for work.
No you are right, you can use them straight after the first baking time! Perfect and delicious too