We’re all eating sweet potatoes right now, with cheese stuffed into the center, right? That’s not just me? I wasn’t seeing things when my local Safeway had suspiciously fewer sweet potatoes in the bin today that usual?
Color me influenced… I have a sweet potato in the air fryer right now and a block of havarti in the fridge. (Dratted Safeway didn’t have butterkase!)
I’m following the recipe of Courtney Cook, whose general approach to cooking tends to look low effort until you realize it produces consistently better results than most optimized techniques. The key to this sweet poatato is the air fryer, yes, but more importantly, the refusal to rush the ending.
Courtney’s sweet potato technique has made the rounds for good reason, including a recent feature in People that focused on her cheese-stuffed version and the unexpectedly perfect texture she gets from a hands-off approach. The base method is simple and flexible, which is exactly why it works.
These sweet potatoes are cooked whole, often wrapped in foil, and then left alone to cool slowly in the air fryer itself. The result is a texture that is fluffy, creamy, and almost custardy inside, without the dryness you sometimes get from oven baking or the wetness that comes from the microwave.
Why this works
Cooking the sweet potato whole traps moisture inside the skin. Wrapping it in foil for most of the cook encourages steaming rather than dehydration. Letting it sit after cooking allows the internal steam to redistribute and the starches to relax and set.
The air fryer, turned off and unopened, acts like a dry thermos. Nothing dramatic happens. Things just get better.
Ingredients
- Whole sweet potatoes, any size
- Neutral oil, optional
- Butter, for serving
- Salt, for serving
- Cheese, Courtney often uses butterkase, cut at her desk with a spoon
This recipe is about method, not seasoning.
Method
Prep the sweet potatoes
Scrub the sweet potatoes well and dry them. Pierce each one a few times with a fork so steam can escape during cooking.
If you want slightly richer skin, rub lightly with oil. This is optional. Courtney often skips it.
Wrap and cook
Wrap each sweet potato loosely in foil. Do not wrap tightly. You want room for steam to circulate.
Place the wrapped sweet potatoes in the air fryer basket. Cook at 375 to 400 degrees until a knife slides in easily, usually 35 to 45 minutes depending on size. Flip once halfway through if you remember. If you do not, it will still work.
For drier skin, unwrap the sweet potatoes for the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking and return them to the air fryer unwrapped.
Rest (this is the secret)
When the sweet potatoes are fully cooked, turn the air fryer off. Do not open it. Leave the sweet potatoes inside to cool gradually for at least 30 minutes, and up to a few hours. This resting step is essential to the final texture.
Serve
When ready to eat, split open, add butter, salt, and optionally a wodge of cheese, and serve.
Notes and guardrails
Keep them whole
This method works best with whole sweet potatoes. Cutting them defeats the steam trapping effect.
Do not skip the resting step
The texture difference is noticeable and worth the wait.
Leftovers
Leftovers reheat well, especially gently in the air fryer or oven rather than the microwave.