Learn how to make Roasted Sweet Potatoes in an Air Fryer the easy way! It only takes 3 ingredients and 10 minutes from start to finish!
The air fryer saves so much time! If you don't have an air fryer, you can easily make these sweet potatoes in the oven - it will just take longer (time to preheat your oven + longer cooking time).
I am not one to have every appliance out there. I was very resistant to the air fryer when it first came out. After all, I don't care for fried anything. It turns out that an air fryer is simply a mini convection oven in that it blows around hot air to cook things faster - genius!
Now, back to the sweet potatoes - your kids will eat these up! When cut and cooked just right, sweet potatoes turn a little crispy on the outside and stay soft on the inside.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Dietitian Tip 1
- Ingredient Notes
- Dietitian Tip 2
- How to Season Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- How to Make Roasted Sweet Potates in an Air Fryer
- How to Serve Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Helpful Tips
- Questions You May Have
- Related Recipes
- More Easy Recipes
- Other Side Dish Recipes Your Kids Will Love
- 📖 Recipe
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy This sweet potato recipe takes 10 minutes from start to finish. The key to making air fryer roasted sweet potatoes in less time and with less oil by is cutting them in small chunks and air frying them. If you prefer to roast sweet potato wedges, increase the time to 10-11 minutes in the air fryer.
- Simple Ingredients Even though sweet potatoes are typically grown in colder months, that are easy to find year-round in most grocery stores.
- Healthy Side Dish Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of fiber and various vitamins and minerals. Roasted sweet potato chunks make a perfect side dish on busy weeknights. They can be served as an easy side dish with pretty much anything, even sandwiches.
- Kid-Approved Sweet potatoes have a natural sweetness, so they really don't need a whole lot of seasonings added for kids to eat them up. It also helps that these air fryer sweet potatoes are a little crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Dietitian Tip 1
Repeated exposure to foods (up to 15 times!) is key to increasing acceptance of a food. And it doesn't mean that the food has to be prepared the same way every time.
For instance, sweet potatoes can be served 'baked potato style', mashed, roasted alone or with other veggies, air-fried in chunks, or made into sweet potato fries. If your kids say they don't like sweet potatoes after having them a few times, keep trying!
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet potatoes The main ingredient! Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable. They typically have an orange flesh and are high in fiber and beta carotene (vitamin A). Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamins C and B6, and potassium. Leave the skins on.
- Olive Oil You only need a little oil for this recipe. I usually use extra virgin olive oil, but you can definitely use avocado oil or other neutral flavored oil instead.
- Salt A little goes a long way:) In my opinion, it's the pinch of salt added that makes these so tasty. Use sea salt or table salt.
Dietitian Tip 2
Some kids love spicey food and others don't want even a hint of 'spice' on anything. While I often encourage my kids to continue to try foods that they don't like, "spicey" food is one exception that I make.
As a dietitian who has reflux and is super sensitive to spice, I understand that sometimes kids don't like spicey food because of how it makes them feel, even if they aren't able to express it.
This is why the dusting of cayenne pepper is completely optional. Some kids like spice, others do not. When I roast sweet potatoes for my kids, I put a light dusting of cayenne on half of the sweet potatoes and leave the rest to be seasoned just with salt. Yum!
How to Season Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Cayenne Pepper My personal favorite seasoning combination when making roasted sweet potatoes is salt and a dash of cayenne pepper. They add great flavor to sweet potatoes. Just remember that a little goes a long way, so there is no need to add much more than a dash of cayenne.
- Tajin If you are feeling adventurous, Tajin seasoning can be used in place of cayenne to give the sweet potatoes more of a citrus flavor.
- Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Chili Powder This is a popular seasoning combination when roasting sweet potato chunks. It's not my favorite, but others love it. 😊
How to Make Roasted Sweet Potates in an Air Fryer
Here's a quick overview of the steps to make roasted sweet potatoes in the air fryer. For the full list of ingredients and specific instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Use a cutting board and sharp knife to slice sweet potatoes into small rectangle shaped pieces, about one-half to one inch in length.
- Place sweet potato chunks, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat.
- Spread sweet potatoes out in a single layer on an air fryer rack fit for your air fryer.
- Air fry for eight minutes. Serve and enjoy!
How to Serve Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Roasted sweet potatoes can be served with pretty much anything from burgers and barbeque chicken to salmon, sandwiches, and wraps. In fact, some restaurants have started to offer roasted sweet potatoes as a side in place of French fries - love it!
Here are a few other delicious ways to serve them.
- Tossed in a quinoa or kale salad.
- Make a grilled wrap with roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, and cheddar cheese.
- Top a hearty Fall salad with roasted sweet potatoes. Roasted sweet potatoes are one of my favorite toppings when I'm in the mood for a hearty salad around the holidays.
Helpful Tips
- Scrub the skins of the sweet potatoes well before cutting them into chunks.
- Use a good quality knife to make it easier to cut through the sweet potato.
- Larger chunks (more than about one-half inch cubes) will take longer to cook.
- Kids are more likely to eat a vegetable that is cut into small pieces.
- The cayenne pepper is optional. Some kids enjoy foods with 'spice', others do not.
- I use a Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven. Different air fryers may require small adjustments in cooking temperature and/or cook time.
- If you do not have an air fryer or you want to make one big batch of roasted sweet potatoes, these sweet potatoes can be roasted in the oven in a single layer on a baking sheet at 425 degrees for about twenty minutes.
- Using a narrow sweet potato will result in more skin proportionate to the flesh. This will give the sweet potato chunks a thicker texture once they are roasted. To avoid this, peel about a quarter to half of the skin before slicing a narrow sweet potato.
- Update: I want to clarify something in response to a comment at the bottom of this post. This air fryer roasted sweet potatoes recipe makes sweet potato chunks as crispy as possible without having to soak them first. To make sweet potatoes with truly crispy edges, you would probably need to soak them in water for about an hour to remove excess starch before air frying them, just like you would do to make crispy sweet potato fries.
Questions You May Have
No, you do not need to soak the sweet potatoes for this recipe. Soaking sweet potatoes is a recommended step when making homemade sweet potato fries, but not when you are roasting small chunks of sweet potatoes in an air fryer (or oven).
First, let the sweet potato chunks cool to room temperature. Once cooled, store them refrigerated in an airtight container.
Leftovers can be enjoyed cold or warm. To reheat leftover roasted sweet potato chunks, place them back in the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for two minutes.
No. Leaving the skin on when you roast sweet potatoes increases the fiber content, saves prep time, and helps the sweet potato chunks keep their shape.
More Easy Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Perfectly Roasted Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chunks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato One large sweet potato or two smaller ones (about two cups when cut into pieces)
- 2 teaspoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 dash cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potato well.
- Cut sweet potato into small chunks. See notes.
- Place sweet potato chunks into a bowl and toss to coat.
- Spread sweet potato pieces out in a single layer on the air fryer rack fit for your air fryer.
- Sprinkle salt on top of the sweet potatoes. If your kids like spicey food, top sweet potatoes with just a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Air fry at 400°F for 8 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Mike says
The sweet potato squares were tasty and soft in the inside but not crispy.
Kristi says
Exactly how they should be! Thanks for letting me know!