Move over burgers, pizza is one of my favorite meals to grill; the high heat of the grill yields a perfectly crispy crust, and cooking outside means you don’t need to have your oven at 500 degrees for half an hour in the middle of summer. Less ambient sweat= more happiness.
Today I’m keeping it simple and showing you the process for making a grilled pizza.
Roll out dough. Assemble toppings.
Slap that baby on the grill.
Flip, sauce, top.
Cook. Melt. Move around with tongs.
Remove from grill. Slice.
FEAST.
How to Make Grilled Pizza
A simple method for making any pizza you want on the grill!
Ingredients
- Pizza dough
- Toppings of Choice
Instructions
- 1. Acquire pizza dough. Either make it yourself the day before, or buy it at the store (I'm fond of Whole Foods' pizza dough for days when I need pizza NOW but didn't make the dough in advance). Either way, roll it out to your desired thickness. Transfer it onto a pan, cutting board, or even a sheet of parchment or foil so you can bring it outside later. You can also grab the dough with your hands and dash outside to slap it on the grill when it's hot, like I sometimes do. If you're having guests over, it's also super cute to make several small pizzas instead of one big one. Let everyone choose their own toppings and call it a pizza party!!
- 2. Heat up the grill. I love charcoal so I usually send Kevin out to light the charcoal and get everything ready. We do a single layer of charcoal on our grill for pizza; anything extra and the dough burns too quickly. Propane works just fine too, set to medium heat.
- 3. Assemble whatever toppings you are going to want, like sauce and cheese, and bring them out to the grill so they're ready when you need them.
- 4. Use your hands (or a wooden pizza peel, if you happen to have one) to plop the dough onto the hot grill. You'll be worried it's going to fall through the cracks- it won't. The side that's facing down will become the top of the pizza, because we're cooking both sides. In about 3 minutes, flip the pizza dough over using tongs or a big spatula. You want it lightly cooked with some distinct grill marks.
- 5. Add sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you're into. Close the grill and let the pizza cook for about 5 more minutes. Check the bottom to make sure it isn't burning, and rotate the pizza to a cooler section of the grill, if there is one, to let the cheese melt without the bottom burning. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is cooked to your liking. Remove pizza onto a large cutting board or sheet pan, slice, and eat.