Fluffy sweet potato in the air fryer recipe is here! Whole and cubed sweet potatoes are the best healthy side dish for the holidays or year round. Crispy skin on the outside but tender and fluffy inside.
Last night we made a sweet potato in the air fryer and it was a great side dish! One of the best potatoes recipe ideas out there. Are you obsessed with easy air fryer recipes too? I am! (originally published 3/19, affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Sweet Potatoes
These are a must for any holiday if you ask me. We love them so much though that they’re cooked year round. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar with some melted butter and OH MY they’re heavenly.
You can make them in a Cosori, Instant Pot air fryer, or Ninja Foodi. Any machine that has the air crisp function will work for these. The larger the basket the more you can make at once as you don’t want them to overlap at all.
If you love air fryer recipes too, here are some resources to start with:
- My Favorite Air Fryer is a Cosori or for a dual machine, the Foodi.
- You can find more easy air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
- This is the best air fryer cookbook. It’s important to know and remember how to preheat air fryer for best results.
- Here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
- Then join our Facebook page below where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love.
Sweet Potato in Ninja Foodi Air Fryer
I think this vegetable is totally overlooked. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, a yummy side dish, and healthy too! It’s one of our favorite Ninja Foodi air fryer recipes you’ve gotta’ try. Air frying these babies create a crispy skin on the outside but tender and fluffy on the inside.
You just can’t get them like this when you’re baking sweet potatoes in the oven.
Get ready to air fry everything this year y’all! Our easy air fryer recipes Facebook page (link above) will help get you going with new ideas for meals and snack ideas daily!
This is what ours looked like. Honestly we hadn’t really made sweet potatoes in a long time, and never in the air fryer. Before, the best way to make baked potatoes was in the oven. Not. Anymore!
How Long to Air Fry Sweet Potato Whole
- The outside of the potatoes are nice and crispy.
- They’re a healthy air fryer side dish that just needs some olive oil or cooking spray.
- If you add salt, the potato skins become amazingly flavorful. Almost better than the inside!
- The inside of your potatoes come out super tender and fluffy. You can serve them as is or add into our sweet potato muffin recipe.
- If you want to make air fryer baked potatoes we have directions for those too.
Smoked baked potatoes are similar but making them in your Ninja Foodi means a quick cook time.
Sweet potatoes in air fryer
Here is a quick step by step but there is also a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for you.
- Rinse your potatoes in a large bowl with water getting debris off. Dry with paper towels. Poke the outside with a fork – maybe 6 times on the top & then on the bottom. Preheat air fryer to 390 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Rub the skins with olive oil – generously. If you want to add salt or garlic powder then rub on the skins now (we didn’t). Put into your air fryer basket – or rack in this case. Set to 390 degrees for 30 minutes (Timing will depend on the size of your sweet potatoes).
- When cooking multiple potatoes put similar sizes in at a time
- If making a lot you will need to cook in batches because they shouldn’t overlap while cooking.
They are super fluffy when they’re done as you can see here. We also love roasted potatoes quartered or potato cubes when we want a different side dish. All are great with just about any protein.
Air fryer sweet potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Olive oil
- Coarse sea salt – if you want to add some to the skins to make them salty/sweet
Serve these as a sweet side dish alongside our bacon wrapped air fryer steak and you’ll love them.
- We will be making sweet potato fries soon and will add instructions soon. We have regular air fryer french fries here and same timing should work.
- It’s one of our favorite potato recipes for sure.
What goes good with sweet potatoes?
They are good with just about anything I tell you. You can serve them with a juicy steak, shrimp, with a salad, or by itself with cinnamon and sugar inside.
- Sweet potatoes are great with any kind of pork. A meal of pork chops and applesauce is great with a side of baked sweet potatoes. A bit like baked potatoes but with a hint of sweetness the kids will especially appreciate.
Of course if it is around the holidays you can use this as a starter to a batch of sweet potato casserole too. Load it up with butter, candied pecans and mini marshmallows melted on top for a tasty side dish.
What we fill them with:
- Butter
- Cinnamon and sugar mixture
- Maple syrup – real / pure is always better
- A bit of salt is good – I prefer it on the skin while being cooked personally, love salty sweet foods
How to Cook Whole Sweet Potatoes
Other air fryer dinner recipes to try are below too, sign up for our newsletter for even more!
- Air fryer vegetables are great
- Try our tasty air fryer fried shrimp with breakfast potatoes
- Meatballs in an air fryer are low carb treats
- You can make sweet potato mash too using this air fryer mashed potato recipe. We show you these above.
- We have even more potato recipe ideas here too.
Here are a few questions you might have before you get started.
The skin of a yam looks kind of like tree bark, while a sweet potato is more of a red brown color. Real yams are entirely different root vegetables that are more like yucca.
They have a bumpy, tough, brown skin. They’re more starchy without a sweet flesh. Honestly, look at the labels in your produce department or you’ll just be confused!
They are quite nutritious, promoting gut health, high in fiber and may help healthy vision too.
You could try a batch of homemade air fryer sweet potato chips too!
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Sweet Potato in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt if you want salt on the outside for a salty/sweet flavor
Instructions
- Wash your sweet potatoes. Use a fork to poke all around each one, top and bottom.
- Rub olive oil on the outside of each sweet potato. Using your hands works best.
- If you want to add salt to the outside to create a salty/sweet taste then sprinkle salt on the outside of each one at this time.
- Put on the air fryer rack inside your air fryer. If you have the Ninja Foodi turn the metal rack upside down and set your potatoes on top.
- Set temp to 390 degrees for 35 minutes. (timing will vary slightly depending on how big your potatoes are, it is suggested to put 4 of the same size in at a time)
- Remove immediately, slice, fluff the middle and add toppings such as butter and/or mixture of cinnamon and sugar.Can also use this recipe to make homemade sweet potato casserole. Scoop out middle if doing that.
Addie
Thursday 17th of November 2022
How long should I cook a sweet potato in the Ninja Foodi that weighs a pound or more?
Bert
Thursday 24th of February 2022
Can I use vegetable oil instead of olive oil?
The Typical Mom
Saturday 26th of February 2022
If that is all you have yes
Rebecca Krangel
Tuesday 6th of April 2021
I just bought this and I am very excited to use it. I want to air crisp only one sweet potato and cut it in chunks. How long should I air crisp it?
The Typical Mom
Wednesday 7th of April 2021
If you search our sweet potato cubes in the search bar that would be similar and provide exact instructions for that.
Gail Tellerico
Monday 14th of December 2020
Great 😊
The Typical Mom
Tuesday 15th of December 2020
Awesome
Michelle Kelleher
Thursday 26th of November 2020
it doesn't say if you should put on bake or air fry???
The Typical Mom
Saturday 28th of November 2020
Use your air fryer, if using a Foodi you use the air crisp function.