An easy whole sweet potatoes in air fryer recipe that gets perfectly soft on the inside yet nice and crispy on the outside, all in significantly less time than baking them in an oven! Try it with the optional cilantro lime butter to create a show-stopping side dish.
Why This Recipe Works
Is this the first time trying to use your air fryer to cook baked sweet potatoes? Well, let's change that! Today we're showing you how easy it is to create a super soft and tasty baked sweet potato air fryer recipe that'll save you lots of time yet give you better results.
After taking my family recipe we've used for years to make grilled sweet potatoes and adapting everything to an air fryer oven, the end result was this amazing cilantro-lime covered baked sweet potatoes in air fryer side dish that is seriously the fastest way to get perfectly cooked potatoes. Never will you use an oven for cooking these again!
- Super versatile, an air fryer baked sweet potato can be served with a variety of toppings including butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, broccoli, ham, and more.
- Sweet potatoes are healthy and a great source of fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as manganese and potassium.
- Topped with cilantro lime butter, these potatoes are simple and tasty.
- Cooking sweet potatoes in the air fryer frees you up to focus on your main dish.
- They're gluten free and vegetarian, to keep them Whole30, paleo, and vegan skip the butter or used a plant based option
Obsessed with potatoes? Us too! Be sure to try our baked potatoes in air fryer recipe, air fryer sweet potato fries, or air fryer frozen french fries.
Serve up your air fryer sweet potato with these air fryer chicken wings, air fryer brats, or these keto baked pork chops.
Ingredient Notes
This may be one of the easiest recipes you will find anywhere, air fryer baked sweet potatoes just needs two ingredients if you want them simple style everyone can add their favorite toppings to at the table.
- Sweet potatoes - While a large toaster oven style air fryer could cook 4 or more potatoes, a smaller basket style air fryer might hold only 2. We prefer garnet red "yams" that are actually sweet potatoes with a darker red skin. This variety has a lot more flavor than the lighter skinned sweet potatoes.
- Olive oil for brushing - you can skip this is you don't want to add the extra oil, but just brushing on even a little bit makes the outer skin even crispier.
Variation
If you want to try our optional cilantro lime butter, here's what you'll need.
Cilantro Lime Butter (Optional)
- butter
- fresh lime juice
- fresh cilantro
Equipment
An Air Fryer- We have an Omni Plus oven style air fryer and a small 3.2L Farberware basket style air fryer. Either style works great for cooking air fryer baked sweet potatoes.
Foil- wrap them in foil if you don't want the skin crisp
Be sure to read our post and download our cheat sheet on air fryer cook times for the 50 most popular air fryer foods.
Step by Step Instructions
How to cook sweet potatoes in an air fryer is super simple, with just 5 minutes of prep, you'll have this healthy starch already cooking.
Prep
Be sure to select sweet potatoes that are a similar size to get an even cooking time. We used ones that were about 12-13 oz each.
Before cooking, wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Using a fork, pierce each one several times to allow the steam to escape.
Preheat the air fryer to 400F for 3-5 minutes.
Brush the outside of your sweet potato with a little oil, such as avocado or olive oil. Adding the oil makes the skins crispier, but this is optional if you want to skip it. No need to wrap them in foil unless you prefer them with a softer exterior.
How Long to Cook Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer?
Cook the sweet potatoes in the preheated air fryer 20 minutes, and then flip to the other side. You'll be cooking them for a total of 40-45 minutes.
Continue cooking on the other side until you can easily pierce through with a fork, which will take 20-25 more mins.
Times could vary based on your type of air fryer and the size of sweet potatoes you purchased.
How to Serve
You can serve the air fryer sweet potatoes as 1 whole potato per person, or cut them each in half.
Split the potato open lengthwise, and "fluff" the inside of the potato with a fork.
Popular ways to serve them are with butter, salt and pepper, sour cream, and herbs, one of our favorites is with this tangy cilantro-lime butter.
Here's what you need:
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Mix the ingredients together and serve a little on top of each potato or on the side.
Sprinkle with more cilantro if desired.
Recipe Tips
- You can either use the grocery store standard sweet potatoes or the Garnett yams (which are actually sweet potatoes too) in this recipe. The darker Garnett variety has a little more flavor but both are delicious.
- Be sure your sweet potatoes are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking.
- Keep a closer eye on the cooking time the first time you make air fryer baked sweet potatoes, air fryer oven models can vary. Use our recipe as a starting point but especially check that they aren't getting too dark once you flip them over halfway.
- Prick the potatoes to help prevent them from exploding. Pricking releases extra steam and while it's rare for an explosion to happen...it CAN happen and that's why it's worth the extra few seconds to poke them a few times.
- Wrap each potato in aluminum foil if you prefer a softer skin
Common Questions
Can You Air Fry Sweet Potatoes without Oil?
Yes, you can cook the sweet potatoes without extra oil, this will make them even healthier and essentially fat free. Oil adds a little bit of crisp to the texture, but it's not required when air frying sweet potatoes.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Calories?
Sweet potatoes are considered one of the world's healthiest foods but anything with the term "air fried" might seem contrary. An entire whole sweet potato has just 86 calories!
Of course, adding a brushing of oil will increase that slightly, but again, you can skip it if desired. Watch those toppings and be sure to account for them if you're on a certain health plan.
How to Store?
The whole sweet potatoes after cooking will keep in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
More Air Fryer Sides
- Air fryer frozen sweet potato fries
- Air fryer frozen french fries
- Air fryer broccoli
- Air fryer tater tots
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer
A whole sweet potatoes in air fryer recipe that cook them super fast, plus they turn out cream and delicious. Serve with salted butter or our optional savory homemade version.
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 2 teaspoon Olive oil for brushing
- Cilantro Lime Butter (Optional)
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Before cooking, wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Using a fork, pierce each one several times to allow the heat to penetrate the meat of the potato.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
- Brush the outside of your sweet potato with a little oil, such as avocado or olive oil. Adding the oil makes the skins crispier, but this is optional if you want to skip it.
- Cook the sweet potatoes in the preheated air fryer 20 minutes, and then flip to the other side. You'll be cooking them for a total of 40-45 minutes.
- Continue cooking on the other side until you can easily piece through with a fork, which will take 20-25 more mins.
- Times could vary based on your type of air fryer and the size of sweet potatoes you purchased.
- Serve with butter, salt, and pepper OR cilantro lime butter.
CILANTRO LIME BUTTER
¼ cup butter, softened
1-2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Mix the ingredients together and serve a little on top of each potato or on the side.
Sprinkle with more cilantro if desired.
Notes
- If you have a small air fryer you'll just be able to fit 2 of them at a time. Don't overcrowd the unit.
- You can either use the grocery store standard sweet potatoes or the Garnett yams (which are actually sweet potatoes too) in this recipe. The darker Garnett variety has a little more flavor but both are delicious.
- Be sure your sweet potatoes are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking.
- Keep a closer eye on the cooking time the first time you make air fryer baked sweet potatoes, air fryer oven models can vary. Use our recipe as a starting point but especially check that they aren't getting too dark once you flip them over halfway.
- Prick the potatoes to help prevent them from exploding. Pricking releases extra steam and while it's rare for an explosion to happen...it CAN happen and that's why it's worth the extra few seconds to poke them a few times.
- Wrap each potato in aluminum foil if you prefer a softer skin
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 257Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 38mgSodium 156mgCarbohydrates 26gFiber 4gSugar 8gProtein 3g
This is just an estimate and incudes the optional cilantro lime butter.
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