A quick and easy way to make baked sweet potatoes in the air fryer. If you only need one or two, there is no need to turn the oven on! This is perfect for lunchtime or a simple side dish. Baking them in halves is quicker than whole, and you can add your favorite baked potato fillings on top!
My favorite way to bake sweet potatoes has always been in halves. They bake faster and more evenly, and you get some delicious caramelized bits! You can have one half each as a side dish, or for a hearty meal you can have a couple and load them with toppings (something like these Halloumi Stuffed Sweet Potatoes or these Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Kale). Or if you need a sweet potato as an ingredient in another recipe (like Easy Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese or Spiced Spinach & Sweet Potato Baby Food) it means you aren’t waiting around quite so long.
And this is a method which adapts perfectly to the air fryer – YAY! So it’s that much easier to get things going, if you only need one or two.
Top Tips for the Perfect Air Fryer Sweet Potato Halves
- Try to slice your sweet potatoes as evenly as possible, though it’s not the easiest task! Otherwise one half will probably be done before the other, though if it’s only a small discrepancy there’s no issue with leaving the other one for the same amount of time.
- I like to cook these in a small pan that fits in my air fryer basket. If you’re doing this, it’s a good idea to place the pan onto a silicone mat to avoid scratching the nonstick coating in your air fryer.
- If you don’t have a pan, just place them on some parchment paper in the air fryer basket. I’d recommend using the parchment paper to avoid the sweet potato sticking and fusing onto the grates as it cooks and melts down!
- Your cooking time will vary a lot based on how big your sweet potatoes are. The ones pictured took 30 minutes and were medium sized.
Easy Sweet Potato Topping Ideas
- The sweet potatoes pictured were topped with a lemon tahini sauce (from this recipe) and chopped cilantro (fresh coriander), because it’s what I had in the fridge.
- Hummus + zaatar or dukkah.
- Baba ganoush or tzaziki + any olives or sundried tomatoes you’ve got knocking around.
- Butter, cheddar cheese and chives. Classic!
- Fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil or a scoop of basil pesto (or this Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing)
- A bruschetta style topping (like the one in this Halloumi Bruschetta recipe).
- Beans! I love these with my Vegetarian Navy Bean Skillet.
- Leftover curry or dal. Don’t knock it! It’s the perfect way to use it up if you don’t want to prepare a fresh batch of rice or only have a very small amount. (Try it with this Paneer, Kidney Bean & Coconut Curry or this Lemon & Coconut Red Lentil Dal)
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Halves
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 tsp olive oil, for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 180C / 360F.
- Slice your sweet potato in half lengthways.
- Brush the cut sides with olive oil.
- Place face down in a small baking dish that fits in your air fryer basket (or on parchment paper directly on the air fryer basket) and cook for 30 minutes.
- Check in and see if they are soft throughout. Cook for another 10 minutes if needed.
- Add toppings and serve.
