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These Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes are an easy, healthy side dish that goes with about any meal! Roast in the oven or try them in the air fryer!
Just prepped these for lunch/dinners for the week and they’re amazing! I’ve made roasted sweet potatoes more times than I can count but will only make them this way from now on. So good!
Lindsay
These sweet potatoes have a fluffy interior and a well-seasoned crisp exterior!! The secret is the combination of high heat, the perfect seasoning (with a secret ingredient to soak up moisture!) and even cooking! Let’s get cookin’….
Ingredients Needed for Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Raw sweet potatoes
- Olive oil – Vegetable oil will work, too.
- Cornstarch
- Salt, pepper & seasonings
How to Cube Sweet Potatoes
- Peel the sweet potatoes
- Cut into slices (for this recipe, I cut into 1/2-inch slices)
- Cut each slice into cubes, keeping them as evenly-sized as possible for even cooking
Roasting Sweet Potatoes
First, you’ll combine the olive oil, seasonings and cornstarch. Then, pour that over the cubed sweet potatoes and stir until well-coated.
Then, you’ll spread them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put into a hot oven. After baking 15 minutes, flip them with a spatula and continue to bake until golden brown and crispy!
How to make roasted sweet potatoes crispy
There are a few things that help make sweet potatoes crispy. Here are a few things that help!
- Oven temperature. Make sure your oven is preheated before putting the pan in the oven. The super hot oven will help get a nice crisp exterior on your potatoes.
- Small, even pieces. Try to cut the sweet potatoes into even cubes (I like to do about 1/2 inch). This will ensure that the whole pan cooks evenly. I don’t recommend doing large cubes as the outside will be done before the interior of the cubes are soft.
- Give them space. If they’re too close to each other, the hot air can’t get to all sides of the cubes, so they won’t be as crispy.
- Cornstarch! I tested this recipe with and without cornstarch (which helps soak up any extra moisture) and found that it does help make these more crisp.
- The pan matters. Use a pan with low sides (or no sides) to get the best air movement around the potatoes. Also, put the potatoes right on the pan or use parchment for best results (silicone baking mats and foil don’t seem to work as well).
Roasted Sweet Potatoes in the Air Fryer
This recipe would also work great in an air fryer! Once the sweet potato cubes are coated in the oil/seasoning mixture, place them in an even layer in the air fryer preheated to 425F. If they don’t all fit, you may have to work in batches.
Shake the basket (or flip the sweet potatoes) after about 5 minutes. Continue to let the sweet potatoes cook for 5-8 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy! Please do note that air fryers vary greatly – keep a close eye on them your first time to see how the timing goes! 🙂
Other Healthy Side Dishes to Try
You can find all of my side dishes here! Below I’ve pulled together a few of my more health-conscious side dishes for you to check out!
- Crispy Roasted Potato Wedges
- Roasted Baby Carrots
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
- Homemade Applesauce
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 Sheet Pan
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 4 cups peeled & cubed sweet potatoes 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven (or an air fryer) to 425°F.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion powder and cornstarch; set aside.1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Add the cubed sweet potatoes to a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and the seasoning.4 cups peeled & cubed sweet potatoes, 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Stir until the sweet potatoes are evenly coated.
- Spread the sweet potatoes onto a large cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes then flip them over with a spatula. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft on the inside and golden and crisp on the exterior.
These were good, but still not very crispy on the outside. I’m wondering if putting them on a rack inside the baking sheet would make them crisper.
You could certainly try that! 🙂
Try using less oil. 2 tbsp should do. That’s more likely the culprit.
I’ve tried this in both the oven and the air fryer, and the air fryer worked beautifully! My air fryer only goes to 400, so it took slightly longer but they came out crispy and perfect! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I just made these. I followed the directions including the cornstarch and they did get some crispness. Everyone ate them up. I did add 1/4 tsp. of chili powder and some finely chopped fresh rosemary to the spices in the recipe. I will definitely make them again.
Thank you for sharing. The method looks really good and I will be trying it out soon.
EXCELLENT WILL BE TRYING THIS SOON
Love this recipe!
Can this recipe be made ahead of time
Hi Karen – I don’t recommend making these and reheating as they’ll lose their crispiness! ~Kelsey
Add that cover the recipe are very annoying
Hi Georgia – there shouldn’t be any ads covering the recipe text. If you do happen to notice that this is the case, please take a screenshot and email it to me…I’ll be sure to have my ads manager get this fixed! ~Kelsey
Sweet potatoes are hard to crisp up but these were great! Even approved by a very selective kiddo. Will make again!
So happy to hear that!! ~Kelsey