This Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes recipe is guaranteed to give you perfectly roasted, melt-in-your-mouth sweet potatoes. Seasoning with chili powder, paprika, and salt produces a simple, yet complimentary peppery flavor profile that plays beautifully with sweet potatoes.
This Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes recipe produces perfectly roasted, melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato cubes. If you’re looking for sweet potatoes with a guaranteed crispy exterior, this isn’t that recipe.
Keys to this lovely, roast-y outcome include 1) cutting the sweet potato into similar-sized cubes so that they cook evenly, 2) giving the sweet potato cubes a quick water rinse to remove excess starch before air frying, and 3) spreading the cubes evenly across a baking sheet during air frying.
I like to keep the seasonings simple when roasting sweet potatoes, but there's no denying that sweet potatoes and chiles belong together. I recommend adding chili powder, paprika, and salt to create a simple, yet complimentary peppery flavor profile that plays beautifully with sweet potatoes.
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Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes Ingredients
For this Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes recipe you will need the following ingredients.
- sweet potatoes
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- chili powder
- paprika
- cayenne pepper (optional)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Air Fried Sweet Potatoes
Peel the sweet potatoes.
Slice and cube the potatoes into approximately ½” pieces; this will ensure even cooking.
Rinse with cold water and strain. I SWEAR by this step.
Pat the rinsed sweet potato cubes dry with a towel. Add the sweet potatoes to a baking sheet and toss with olive oil.
Add salt, chili powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper (optional) to a bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the top of the sweet potatoes, and mix for a minute to distribute the season evenly.
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Once preheated, place the baking sheet of sweet potatoes in the air fryer and cook at 400°F for 12-14 minutes. You can flip halfway through, but it's not necessary.
Once finished cooking, remove from oven and season with additional salt, if desired.
Hint: Did I mention not to skip the rinse with water before cooking step? If you don’t rinse them the exteriors turn a touch wrinkly and get just the slightest bit tough. Whereas the rinsed ones keep a pleasantly soft exterior.
Suggested Substitutions
Here are a few simple swaps you can make to the recipe without significantly changing the final dish.
- Olive oil - Try canola or vegetable oil instead.
- Chili powder - Use an alternate variation like ancho chili powder.
- Paprika - Smoked paprika and hot Hungarian paprika are both excellent substitutes.
Equipment
Air fryer. I used a Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 Smart XL Air Fry Oven (see link below).
A note on air fryer cooking. This Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes recipe will also work with basket-style air fryers although you may have to adjust the amount of sweet potatoes you can cook at once (depending on the capacity of your air fryer).
Baking sheets. These fit well in the Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven XL.
Storage
Store any leftover Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes in a lidded container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I like to add leftover sweet potato cubes to rice bowls and salads.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato FAQ
Answers vary to this question, but I say yes. I am pro rinse your sweet potatoes with running water before you air fry. Why? To get rid of excess starch. I’ve tested air frying sweet potato cubes with and without rinsing, holding all other conditions constant (cooking temperature, cooking time, amount of olive oil used, seasonings). The results are subtle, but telling. If you don’t give them a rinse beforehand I have found that the exteriors get wrinkly looking and tend to toughen a bit. Rinsing beforehand results in smooth, melt-in-your-mouth, perfectly roasted sweet potato cubes from exterior to interior.
I find that air frying at 400 is the sweet spot to achieve those perfectly roasted sweet potato cubes, which takes around 12-14 minutes.
I’m using Jewel sweet potatoes, but you can also use Red Garnet, Covington, and Beauregard. I have not tried this recipe with white sweet potato varieties.
Related Side Dishes
Looking for other slammin' side dish recipes? Give these a go!
Perfect Pairings
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes.
Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 pound) peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1-2 dashes cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potatoes. Slice and cube the potatoes into approximately ½” pieces; this will ensure even cooking.2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)
- Rinse with cold water and strain. I SWEAR by this step. If you don’t rinse them the exteriors turn a touch wrinkly and get just the slightest bit tough. Whereas the rinsed ones keep a pleasantly soft exterior.
- Pat the rinsed sweet potato cubes dry with a towel. Add the sweet potatoes to a baking sheet and toss with olive oil.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Add salt, chili powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper (optional) to a bowl and stir to combine.teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, 1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
- Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the top of the sweet potatoes, and mix for a minute to distribute the season evenly.
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once preheated, place the baking sheet of sweet potatoes in the air fryer and cook at 400°F for approximately 12-14 minutes. You can flip halfway through if you’d like, but it's not necessary.
- Once finished cooking, remove from oven and season with additional salt, if desired.
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