You can have baked sweet potatoes in just minutes when you make our Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes. A brown sugar cinnamon butter is the crowning glory and melts into and flavors tender baked sweet potatoes.
When I think of comfort food, baked sweet potatoes always come to mind. Sweet, creamy and tender, Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes “bake” to perfection in just minutes.
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Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
I get impatient waiting for potatoes to bake in the oven for an hour and that’s why I’m so in love with my air fryer these days.
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Do you have an air fryer? I was resistant at first to getting yet another appliance but I am a believer now!
Food cooks quickly, can crisp up and/or become tender. Sounds like a win-win to me!
So I gave air fried sweet potatoes a try and there’s no going back to baking sweet potatoes in the oven ever again.
In about half the time it takes to bake sweet potatoes in the oven, your air fried sweet potatoes will be on the table.
I was able to cook my sweet potatoes in about 30 minutes.
Depending on the size of the sweet potatoes you may need to add an additional 5 or 10 minutes to the cooking time. Just give the potatoes a quick squeeze after 30 minutes to check that they are tender. If not, add 5 minutes at a time, until they are soft and ready.
It is best to use longer skinny sweet potatoes, instead of short fat ones, so that they cook evenly.
I rub my sweet potato skins with olive oil and sprinkle them with kosher salt so they become flavorful and crispy.
Actually, it's not imperative for you to do that step. It's just a personal preference of mine that I have come to do over the years with both sweet potatoes and white baking potatoes. But I highly recommend that you give it a try because it's really good!
The crowning glory of this air fryer sweet potato recipe is the delicious brown sugar cinnamon butter that I made while the potatoes were cooking.
With just three ingredients, you’ll have the most delicious topping for sweet potatoes ever.
The sweet flavor of our butter makes every bite of your sweet potato that much more delicious.
This sweet butter reminds me of the cinnamon butter at Outback’s Steak House. Yes, I kid you not.
So go ahead, slather it on and enjoy! Your tastebuds are going to be dancing!
Once you have an air fryer baked sweet potato there’s no going back, especially if it's a sweet potato with brown sugar and butter!
Be sure to visit the Swirls of Flavor Amazon Storefront for GG's kitchen recommendations!
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Be sure to select sweet potatoes that are all the same size so they take the same amount of time to cook
- Scrub and dry your sweet potatoes before rubbing with olive oil
- Piercing the sweet potatoes before cooking prevents them from exploding!
- It is best to use long skinny sweet potatoes, instead of short fat ones, so they cook evenly
- Give the potatoes a quick squeeze after 30 minutes to check that they are tender. If not, add 5 minutes at a time, until they are soft and ready.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the butter for a kick of heat
- Stir chopped cilantro or parsley into the butter
- Add a few drops of vanilla extract to the butter for added flavor
Substitutions
- You can replace the brown sugar in the butter with honey
- You can make the butter with either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar
How to air fry sweet potatoes
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Preheat air fryer to 400F.
- Pierce sweet potatoes several times with the tines of a fork or a paring knife.
- Rub olive oil on the skins of the sweet potatoes then sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Arrange sweet potatoes in the basket of the air fryer.
- Cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until blended.
- Serve brown sugar cinnamon butter with the sweet potatoes.
Air fryer recipes for beginners
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
- Air Fryer Roasted Garlic
- Air Fryer Cauliflower
- Air Fryer Tofu
- Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers from Live Life and Good Food
- Crispy Air Fryer Chickpeas from Dizzy Busy and Hungry
What to serve with baked sweet potatoes
Ingredients
Ingredients for sweet potatoes in the air fryer:
- sweet potatoes
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- butter
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes With Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter Recipe
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Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes , 2 pounds total weight
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 Tablespoons butter , at room temperature
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400F.
- Pierce sweet potatoes several times with the tines of a fork or a knife.
- Rub olive oil on the skins of the sweet potatoes then sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Arrange sweet potatoes in the basket of the air fryer.
- Cook 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until blended.
- Serve brown sugar cinnamon butter with the sweet potatoes.
Notes
- Be sure to select sweet potatoes that are all the same size so they take the same amount of time to cook
- Scrub and dry your sweet potatoes before rubbing with olive oil
- Piercing the sweet potatoes before cooking prevents them from exploding!
- Give the potatoes a quick squeeze after 30 minutes to check that they are tender. If not, add 5 minutes at a time, until they are soft and ready.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the butter for a kick of heat
- Stir chopped cilantro or parsley into the butter
- Add a few drops of vanilla extract to the butter for added flavor
- You can replace the brown sugar in the butter with honey
- You can make the butter with either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar
These were such a sweet treat and I'm never baking potatoes in the oven again!
These sweet potatoes are incredible! The air fryer is an absolute game-changer!
These sweet potatoes look fantastic! Loving the brown sugar cinnamon on top.
love the cinnamon brown sugar butter - perfecT! these are so good!
I normally love sweet potatoes just on their own, but the brown sugar cinnamon butter was the perfect addition without making them too sweet. Yum!
Everything tastes better with butter!
The butter is the crowning glory!
Thank you! Yes, the air fryer is my new best friend!
Would like to cut recipe in half how long would I cook them?
The timing should stay the same, even with just two sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes still need that time to cook until they are tender. Happy cooking, GG
Thank you so much Patty! This makes me so happy! Thank you for stopping by and letting me know how much you enjoyed my recipe. Happy Baking, GG