Want a new way to serve up Candied Sweet Potatoes? Try these Bacon Wrapped Candied Sweet Potatoes! They are easy to make and are unbelievably delicious!
I knew I wanted to do a recipe for candied sweet potatoes this year, but the inspiration just wasn't coming! There are thousands and thousands of candied sweet potato recipes out there in internet land and everything I came up with was just so... boring!
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I started out developing this recipe in the new Ninja Foodi XL grill and the idea was for a candied twice baked sweet potato. Everything was going fine and the potato was done baking in the grill and I realized, it's going to be really hard to keep this skin on and have this dish look pretty.
Then, it hit me! Cut them into wheels, wrap with bacon, candy them and top with marshmallows. So, I did it and I wasn't the slightest bit prepared for how incredible they tasted! They are simply delicious!
I also love the fact that they are single serving size, so you can make as few or as many as you want!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep! There are several ways to prep these in advance. The easiest way, with the best results are to make up the sweet potatoes ahead of time, assemble and air crisp just before serving.
You can also make the recipe up to the point of putting on the marshmallows and refrigerate them until you want to serve them. Then, you will need to AC on a low temp of about 300℉/150℃ until the bacon crisps up and the sweet potatoes are warm. Top with marshmallows and broil.
Nope! In fact, you don't need anything but an oven to make this recipe and I will go over the different ways to make them in the post below.
I haven't tried that and I'm not sure how artificial sweeteners caramelize, but it is definitely worth a try. You can also skip the glaze altogether! They will still be delicious, just not candied.
I have not tried this, but I think it would work fine to wrap the canned sweet potato chunks in bacon and air crisp it.
What Type of Bacon is Best for this Recipe?
I used a thick cut applewood smoked bacon and thought that the flavor was perfect and the thick cut bacon rendered nicely and gave a great texture to the bacon wrapped candied sweet potatoes.
You can use a thin cut bacon, but keep in mind that it will shrink more when cooking, so you might want to wrap two pieces around each sweet potato wheel. It will also cook faster, so definitely watch your time.
I haven't tried the recipe with turkey bacon, but if you wanted to give that a try, I would lower the temperature by at least 25 degrees so you don't burn it.
How to Choose the Right Sweet Potato
When choosing a sweet potato for this recipe, try to find one that is uniform in circumference.
The sweet potato should be about 8 or 9" in diameter, which is about the same as small orange.
It doesn't really matter how long it is because you can always get two in order to have 4 uniformly sliced sweet potato wheels. Mine was about 8-10" long.
You want the bacon to be able to wrap around the sweet potato without much overlapping. However, if your sweet potato is larger in diameter, you can use 1½ slices of bacon to completely wrap it and secure in two places with the toothpicks.
Side Dishes Made in the Ninja Foodi
If you want some more ideas for side dishes you can make in the Ninja Foodi, check these recipes out!
Low Carb Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad
Homemade Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole with Toasted Pecans
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Candied Sweet Potatoes in an Air Fryer or Oven
You don't have to have an electric pressure cooker to make this recipe, it can easily be done in any air fryer or oven.
In fact, I started testing this recipe in the NEW Ninja Foodi XL Indoor Grill and it worked perfectly. It just took a little longer.
The recipe is basically the same. The only thing to do differently is to bake instead of pressure cook your sweet potato.
I would bake on 350-375℉ for 40 minutes or until an internal temperature is about 180-190℉. The sweet potato should be about 75% cooked and will finish cooking after it is sliced and wrapped in bacon.
If you have an air fryer, follow the temperature and timing as listed in the recipe. If you are using an oven, increase the temperature to 375℉ and check on the progress after about 15 minutes.
If the bacon is not rendering the fat and becoming crispy, increase the temp. If it is looking too dark, decrease the temp.
Then use the broil function or the highest temperature setting on your appliance to brown the marshmallows.
Serve & Enjoy!
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Candied Sweet Potatoes in the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper or the Instant Pot with crisping lid.
If you have a Ninja Foodi PC & AC or another type of electric pressure cooker (with or without a crisping lid), I really suggest using it for pressure cooking the sweet potatoes.
It's faster than baking and, once you start the pressure cooker, it's hands off. Plus, the skins peel so easy!
Step One
Place 1 cup of water in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot. Place the sweet potato on the rack and pressure cooker on high for 15 minutes.
The size of your sweet potato may affect the pressure cooking time. When picking out a sweet potato for this recipe, try to get one that is uniform in diameter and about 8-9" in circumference. A piece of thick cut bacon should wrap around it without overlapping that much.
If your sweet potato is larger in diameter, increase the PC time to 20 minutes and if it is smaller in diameter, decrease the PC time to 12 minutes.
When the pressure cook time is up, do an immediate release and remove the sweet potato to cool. Dump the water out of the inner pot.
Step Two
Mix the glaze by combining the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and dijon mustard into a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
You can use any style mustard you want, but I don't recommend using yellow mustard. Any dijon or spicy mustard will work best.
Step Three
Once the sweet potato has cooled enough for you to handle it, cut the ends off and then cut equal size wheels that are about 1¼-1½" thick. You want the sweet potato slice to be about ¼" less than the bacon width so the bacon extends above the sweet potato to hold the glaze.
Wrap each sweet potato slice (wheel) in a piece of thick-cut bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Place the sweet potato slices in the basket of the Ninja Foodi. I lined mine with a non-stick mat that fits in the basket (they are not available for purchase at the time to of this post) to prevent sticking, but you can use parchment with some holes poked in it. Aluminum foil will work as well. Or spritz the basket with a little oil.
Spoon the glaze on top of each sweet potato. Some will run off, that is fine.
Lower the crisping lid and air crisp at 330℉/165℃ for about 20-25 minutes (I start checking at 15 minutes) or until the bacon has rendered the fat and crisped up. If you are using thin bacon strips, make sure to check on them after 15 minutes because they will not take as long.
Step Four
Place about 1 Tablespoon of mini marshmallows on top of each sweet potato and broil for 3-5 minutes.
Don't overload the sweet potato with marshmallows because they will puff up when cooking and spill over the sides.
Remove and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
Serve & Enjoy!
Bacon Wrapped Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
- 4 strips thick cut bacon apple wood smoked
- ½ cup mini marshmallows
- 1 cup water
- 4 toothpicks
Glaze
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
Instructions
- Place 1 cup of water in the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot. Place the sweet potato on the rack or in the basket and pressure cook on high for 15 minutes* see post for details on size of sweet potatoes. When the time is up, do an immediate release.
- While the sweet potato is pressure cooking, mix up the glaze by whisking together the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and dijon mustard in a small bowl.
- Let the sweet potato cool until you can handle it comfortably. Dump the water from the inner pot.
- Slice the ends off of the sweet potato and cut 4 equal sections that are about 1 ¼-1½" in size. Remove the sweet potato peel which should just fall off. You want the bacon to extend about ¼" above the sweet potato which creates a lip for the glaze to sit in.
- Wrap each sweet potato wheel in the thick cut bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place a non-stick mat or a parchment round or even foil (poke some holes in it so the bacon grease drains some)in the basket or on the rack and set the sweet potato wheels on top.
- Spoon the glaze on the top of each sweet potato. Don't worry if some drips off the sides, it will coat the bacon and candy the bacon as it cooks.
- Close the crisping lid and select air crisp on 330°F/165°C or the closest temperature to that on your appliance. Air Crisp/Air Fry for 20-25 minutes.
- Add about a Tablespoon of marshmallows on top of each sweet potato wheel. Broil for about 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Remove the tooth picks before serving.
- Serve & Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Linda McLaughlin
Louise,
What a great alternative to the candied yams or sweet potatoes usually served at Thanksgiving. I made these to give them a try. They were so much fun to make. I pc them while I was making the cream corn in the Cold & Hot Blender to make the corn pudding. All three came out outstanding and will be new staples on my Thanksgiving table.
You do need to watch the bacon on the potatoes so it doesn’t get to crisp on the tops. I turned the temperature down the last 5 min to 315. They came out perfect! The broiling of the marshmallows did not take very long and does need to be watched.
Thank you for making cooking so much fun and great recipes.
Linda McLaughlin
Louise
I am so happy that you gave these a try and enjoyed them!
linda dodge
I made this for thanksgiving and wow! I was impressed. I'm not a huge sweet potato fan and there are only 3 of us so I hate making a huge sweet potato casserole type thingy. I made 3 slices and my husband was looking for more. I baked the sweet potatoes, air fried them and then I used my "blow torch" for the marshmallows. So good. Thank you for sharing.
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! I'm not really a fan of sweet potatoes either, but these changed my mind!
KATHY Doubleu
Since my hubby doesn't like sweet potatoes but loves German potato salad I'm going to make regular potatoes and put a slice of onion on top and use a similar glaze. Wish me luck
Louise
Let me know how it works!
Sharon Fisk
Is it a bad idea to pc 2 or 3 sweet potatoes at a time of they comfortably fit in the basket or on the rack? Mine are a bit smaller than yours.
Louise
Not at all, you can do several at a time. They should could at the same time, but if yours are smaller, decrease the time by a minute or two.
Linda Moffat
How do I bake them in a r
Regular oven. Moffatlinda22@gmail.com1
Louise
I give my suggestions in the post for using a regular oven.