These sweet and crunchy air fryer twice-baked potatoes make a tasty side dish for the holidays or any dinner. Sweet potatoes are scooped out, mixed with maple syrup and cinnamon, and topped with pecans or marshmallows. Baked in an air fryer, these delicious individual little sweet potatoes can be ready to eat in 20 minutes.
When I was growing up, I rarely ate sweet potatoes. They were a once-a-year-at-Thanksgiving kind of side dish. And Sweet Potato Casserole isn’t really a vegetable!
Now I love sweet potatoes and make them a regular at my family’s dinners. Sweet potatoes are high in fiber, potassium, and vitamins. I started eating them because they were supposed to be “better” for me than regular potatoes, but I keep eating them because they are delicious!
Make roasted air fryer sweet potatoes or try hasselback sweet potatoes for something different!
Leftover Sweet Potatoes
It is a great way to use up leftover sweet potatoes. They will be much tastier the second time around if you mash and mix up the filling and rebake them than if you just microwave them.
And using an air fryer for cooking them means that they will be ready very quickly. You can have them on the table for dinner in about 20 minutes, which makes them a delicious side dish for a weeknight meal.
Ingredients
To flavor the sweet potatoes, they are mixed with maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The maple syrup really adds a lot of flavor and interest to this side dish. I much prefer using maple syrup instead of brown sugar to sweeten this dish.
The sweet potatoes are topped off with chopped pecans or marshmallows (or both). Pecans add a bit of crunch to the dish, which contrasts nicely with the soft interior. Marshmallows make them sweet and gooey. They are kind of like miniature sweet potato casseroles!
How to Make Twice Bake Sweet Potatoes
1. Start with Baked Sweet Potatoes
This recipe starts with already-baked sweet potatoes. It doesn’t matter how you bake them – my favorite is making air fryer sweet potatoes, but the oven also works fine.
The recipe is easier if you are starting with cold, cooked sweet potatoes. So cook up a bunch on the weekend or bake a few extra a few days before you plan to serve these. Then tightly wrap the cooked sweet potatoes and refrigerate them.
2. Scoop Out the Sweet Potatoes
Cut each sweet potato in half and scoop out the filling. Leave about 1/4 inch of filling on the sides of the sweet potato, so it holds together during the second baking.
The easiest sweet potatoes to scoop out and stuff are the ones that are short and fat, not the ones which are long and skinny.
Sweet potatoes have fairly thin skin, especially compared to a russet potato. Riping the skin a little as you scoop the insides out is easy. If this happens, just push the skin back in place.
The cold potatoes also don’t hold their shape very well and tend to flatten a bit. But don’t worry, once they are baked a second time, these issues won’t be noticeable.
3. Make the Filling
The filling for the sweet potatoes is made by combining the sweet potato insides with melted butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Use a fork or potato masher to mix all the ingredients together for a sweet but not overly sweet filling.
4. Fill the Sweet Potatoes
Once the filling is well-mixed scoop it back into the sweet potato shells. It should fit without needing to mound it up. Pack the filling down into the shells, so it all fits.
5. Bake
Put the sweet potato halves in the basket of an air fryer. Don’t crowd the basket, and make sure there is plenty of room for air to circulate around the sweet potato halves. Then cook at 380 F for 5 minutes.
Then sprinkle chopped pecans or marshmallows (or both) on top of the sweet potatoes. Air fry at 380 F for another 3 minutes.
If you don’t have an air fryer you can cook in the oven at the same temperature for 15-20 minutes.
Make Ahead Side Dish
This recipe is an excellent one to make ahead of time. Stuff the sweet potatoes and put them on a plate or tray in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them.
They will keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Doing this makes them even quicker and easier to make and can help reduce the stress of getting dinner on the table.
Try mashed purple sweet potatoes for another fun way to serve sweet potatoes.
How to Serve Twice Bake Sweet Potatoes
This recipe for twice baked sweet potatoes is fancy enough to serve at a special dinner like Thanksgiving. They are kind of like individual little sweet potato casseroles. Make some with pecans and some with marshmallows!
But the recipe is also excellent for a weeknight family dinner. These seem like a fancy addition to dinner but are really easy to make. So make it point to serve sweet potatoes regularly, not just for the holidays!
Find More Air Fryer Side Dishes
Air Fryer Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 cooked sweet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons pecans optional
- 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Start with 2 cooked sweet potatoes. It is easier to scoop out and stuff them if they are cold.2 cooked sweet potatoes
- Slice each sweet potato in half. Scoop out the filling, leaving a 1/4 inch rim around the sides. Set the potato shells aside.
- Mix the sweet potato insides with the melted butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Use a potato masher to mix it all together thoroughly.2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Scoop the mixture back into the sweet potato shells, pressing it down into the shells.
- Bake in the air fryer at 380 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the pecans, mini marshmallows or both on top of the sweet potatoes.2 tablespoons pecans, 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
- Bake in the air fryer at 380 F for 3 additional minutes.
Notes
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
