Sweet Potato Jack-O-Lanterns (Air Fryer or Oven)

Sweet potato jack-o-lanterns turn one vegetable and a paring knife into the most requested thing on my Halloween table. You slice sweet potatoes into rounds, carve little faces into them, season them, and air fry for 12 minutes. That’s the whole recipe. No sugar, no food coloring, no fussy decorating — just crispy-edged sweet potato that happens to be grinning at you.

I started making these the year my kids decided every single Halloween food had to be “spooky” or it didn’t count. This was my compromise, and it worked better than I expected: they ate an entire tray of vegetables without a word of protest, mostly because they’d carved half the faces themselves.

Why You’ll Love These

They’re actually healthy. One vegetable, a little olive oil, and seasonings. That’s it — a real side dish in a sea of Halloween candy.

Kids will help make them. Carving the faces is the fun part, and it’s the reason kids eat them. Give an older child a small paring knife and they’ll happily produce twenty of these.

They cook in 12 minutes. No oven preheat, no heating up the kitchen while you’re also making dinner for a party.

They work as a side dish or an appetizer. Serve them alongside chili, or set them out on a platter with dip.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Sweet potatoes: Look for firm, wide potatoes without soft spots or bruises. Width matters more than length here, because a fatter sweet potato gives you a bigger round with room for a face. Skip anything long and skinny.

Olive oil: Or any high-heat oil: avocado, coconut, or grapeseed all work.

Seasonings: Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and rosemary. This is a savory version. If you’d rather go sweet, see the variation below.

How to Make Sweet Potato Jack-O-Lanterns

Step 1: Line the air fryer basket or tray with parchment paper and spray it lightly with cooking spray.

Step 2: Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them into ¼-inch rounds. Thinner than that and they’ll crisp into chips before the faces set; thicker and they’ll still be firm at 12 minutes.

Step 3: If you want a pumpkin outline rather than a plain circle, press a small metal cookie cutter through each round. This step is optional — a circle with a face on it reads as a jack-o-lantern just fine.

Step 4: Carve the faces with a small, thin-bladed paring knife. Triangle eyes and a simple mouth hold up best. Push the cut pieces out slowly, especially around teeth, or they’ll tear.

Step 5: Arrange the rounds on the parchment in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Step 6: Air fry at 380°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden. Let them rest 5 minutes before serving — they firm up as they cool and are much easier to lift off the parchment.

Tips for Perfect Jack-O-Lantern Faces

Cut the faces bigger than you think you need to. Sweet potato swells slightly as it cooks and small cutouts close up. A mouth that looks comically wide raw will look right when it comes out.

Don’t crowd the basket. Overlapping rounds steam instead of roast and the faces go soft. Cook in batches and leave space around each one — the same rule that makes air fryer sweet potato home fries crisp applies here.

Flip halfway if your air fryer runs hot on one side. Most basket-style models brown the top faster than the bottom.

Using an air fryer oven? Put the rack on the bottom position so the tops don’t scorch before the centers cook.

Doubling or tripling? Easy to do, but cook in batches rather than stacking. Rounds that touch will fuse at the edges.

Sweet Variation

For a dessert version, skip the savory seasonings. Toss the rounds with olive oil or melted butter, air fry as directed, then dust the hot rounds with cinnamon sugar. They come out somewhere between a roasted vegetable and a churro, and they disappear faster than the savory ones at a kids’ party.

Can I Make These in the Oven?

Yes. Prepare the rounds exactly as directed, arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake at 400°F for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden and tender. Rest 5 minutes before serving. The oven version gives you more even browning across a big batch, which is worth it if you’re feeding a crowd.

What Kind of Cookie Cutter Works Best?

A small metal cutter, around 2 to 3 inches. Metal cuts cleanly through raw sweet potato; plastic cutters flex and crush the edges instead of slicing them. If you don’t have one, a paring knife and a circle is genuinely fine — the face is what makes it read as a jack-o-lantern.

How to Store and Reheat

Cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. To reheat, spray lightly with cooking spray and air fry at 380°F for 2 to 3 minutes until warmed through and crisp again. The microwave will make them limp — skip it.

You can carve and season the rounds up to a day ahead, cover them tightly, and refrigerate raw until you’re ready to cook.

Troubleshooting

The faces tore while I was carving. The slice is too thin or the knife is too thick. Go to a full ¼ inch and use the thinnest blade you own.

The edges burned before the centers cooked. Rounds were uneven in thickness, or the rack sat too high in an air fryer oven.

They stuck to the basket. Parchment plus a light spray, every time. Sweet potato sugars caramelize and grab bare metal.

They came out soft, not crisp. Overcrowding. This is almost always overcrowding.

What to Serve With Them

These are a side dish, so pair them with something substantial — chili, sloppy joes, or roast chicken all work for a Halloween-night dinner. As part of a party spread, put them out next to air fryer sweet potato nachos for a savory anchor, then follow with air fryer Halloween cupcakes or air fryer dark Halloween cookies for dessert.

More Sweet Potato Recipes to Try

If you end up with leftover sweet potatoes after carving:

• Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes — whole potatoes, crispy skin, fluffy inside
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Casserole — the holiday classic, no oven required
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Tempura — same ¼-inch rounds, crispy batter
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Noodles — spiralized, gluten-free, ready in 8 minutes
• Air Fryer Frozen Sweet Potato Tots — the shortcut version for busy nights
• Air Fryer Canned Sweet Potatoes — surprisingly good, and even faster

For everything else the air fryer can do, browse all my air fryer recipes.