The last time my husband’s family was together we were celebrating my brother-in-law’s graduation. Since there are 18 of us in total (including 10 young kids!), we opted for takeout. Everyone got to choose what they like.
Being a family with food allergies, it’s always tricky to navigate these situations. We have to be very selective about the food.
Thankfully we found enough safe options that my kids both could and would eat.
But there was one item on the menu that we had never tried that sounded intriguing – sweet potato tater tots.
There was just one problem – it wasn’t on the gluten-free menu.
Some of my family can tolerate small amounts of gluten, so we tried a few. And of course, they tasted good!
But I wanted us all to get to enjoy them in a safe and healthy way.
Sweet Potato Tots in the Air Fryer
Aside from the gluten, it’s a given that anything fried that comes from a restaurant is cooked in inflammatory, processed vegetable oils.
I decided I just had to recreate the sweet potato tots at home without allergens and without vegetable oils.
I don’t use my Air Fryer often as I’m a creature of habit that sticks to my oven, skillet, and slow cooker most of the time. But I knew Air Fryer sweet potato tots would definitely be the best!
My goal was to make these as simple as possible. And yet I complicated them way too many times. It took about 10 iterations to get these sweet potato tots just right. Thankfully my final version was a lot simpler than my first!
Simple Summer Side Dish
I rely on my oven to cook almost every dinner. We love roasted veggies with dinner, but in the summer using the oven makes the house so hot!
So a simple summer side dish that you can cook in the Air Fryer is the perfect solution.
Another bonus is that you don’t have to pre-cook the sweet potatoes for this recipe. So no boiling on the stovetop either.
The prep work is so easy that your kids can do it. Let older kids peel and grate the potatoes (use a box grater as most food processors won’t grate finely enough). Then it’s just a quick mix and form into balls – perfect for smaller hands (and they can be made ahead so you can give them plenty of time)! Get your kids in the kitchen with Kids Cook Real Food!
Once your sweet potato balls are ready, older kids or a parent can do the actual work with the Air Fryer.
Paleovalley Meat Sticks
It can be hard to find healthy snacks that you can take with you on the go. When I want the convenience of a jerky stick, but want a healthy, protein packed snack option, I grab Paleovalley meat sticks. Paleovalley ingredients have these high standards that you can feel good about:
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- Never given antibiotics or hormones
- Gluten free, soy free, dairy free
- 0 grams of sugar*
- Contains no artificial nitrates or nitrites
- Non-GMO
- Naturally fermented and contain gut-friendly probiotics!
*With the exception of Teriyaki, which contains 2 grams of sugar from Organic Honey.
These beef sticks and turkey sticks taste delicious! My favorite is the Jalapeño but my kids love Summer Sausage.
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Sweet Potato Air Fryer Recipe Kids Love
With any new recipe, the real test is whether or not kids will eat it. And my kids sure had opinions on all of the different versions I created!
So when they all fought over who got to eat the last one I knew I had a winner.
Air Fryer sweet potato tots taste great plain, or they are perfect for dipping. A few options include:
- ketchup
- honey mustard
- mayonnaise
- hummus
- barbeque sauce
As an added bonus they make great finger food for little hands. My toddler loved them!
Print
Simple Air Fryer Sweet Potato Tots
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 30 – 40 tater tots 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Air fryer
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, salty and sweet – the perfect, healthy tater tot for kids!
Ingredients
- 2 cups peeled and grated sweet potato (about 2 medium potatoes)
- 6 Tbsp. tapioca flour (or arrowroot)
- 1/4 tsp. unrefined sea salt (or more to taste)
- 2–3 Tbsp. avocado oil, tallow, or lard for cooking
Instructions
- Finely grate the potatoes with a box grater (the medium grate on most box graters. Do not use a food processor unless you have a blade that grates quite finely). You should have about 2 cups total.
- Mix the potato with the tapioca flour and salt to combine.
- Form 1-in. balls and place on a plate (they should hold together. If not, add more flour.)
- Remove all inserts and heat the Air Fryer to 375-degrees F. Set for 15 minutes.
- Allow to heat for 3 minutes.
- Add 1 – 2 Tbsp. of oil, enough to lightly cover the bottom.
- Place the sweet potato balls in the Air Fryer (this will likely require 2 rounds, depending on the size of your Air Fryer).
- Cook for the remaining 12 minutes, pausing halfway to flip the tater tots.
- Remove from the pan and sprinkle generously with salt.
- Repeat until all tater tots are cooked. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can easily double the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 240
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 128mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 55g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: kid-friendly, kid food, copycat
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Are Tater Tots Healthy?
Are Tater Tots Healthy?Tater tots are one of those foods that most kids grow up eating. I mean, crispy, salty, starchy potatoes – what’s not to love?
But most store-bought tater tots have not only vegetable oils but other flavors and gums added. Even organic versions have some not-so-real ingredients.
This is why I love homemade tater tots. You get to control the ingredients. And when you swap out the basic white potato for sweet potatoes you’re really upping the nutrition factor!
Sweet potatoes contain:
- fiber
- potassium
- manganese
- magnesium
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B6
- Beta-carotene
When making sweet potato tots you can use healthy fats like avocado oil, tallow, and lard, or if you prefer you can cook Air Fryer sweet potato tots with no oil at all!
They are also grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free. So everyone gets to enjoy these tater tots.
What Can You Serve With Sweet Potato Tots?
Air Fryer sweet potato tots make an easy side dish with just about any meal. If you’ve really gotten into air fryers and have more than one you can make it a full Air Fryer meal!
- AF Brussels sprouts with bacon
- AF chicken nuggets
- AF veggie fries
- AF sweet potato tots
But even if you only have one, here are some great options for kid-friendly meals.
- Hamburgers, rutabaga fries, sweet potato tots
- Salad bar with sweet potato tots as croutons
- Honey herb chicken, sauteed broccoli, sweet potato tots dipped in honey mustard
- Mini meatloaves, roasted cauliflower, sweet potato tots dipped in ketchup
You can even try making a tater tot casserole with these on top. Skip the Air Fryer and just bake them with the casserole.
As much as I hate peeling potatoes, it’s so worth it to make Air Fryer sweet potato tots. And thankfully a few potatoes make a lot! So the prep work goes very quickly. Plus my kids usually do it anyway.
If you have kids that enjoy tater tots, they’ll love sweet potato tots!
These look sooooo good. We don’t currently have an air fryer, although I’d love to (maybe Christmas this year!) so I am wondering in the meantime how these might bake in the oven. I do have a convection oven so it has more even heat distribution, but I’m not sure that would work well. What do you think?