Grilled Pizza

This is the perfect summer dinner to cook on the grill. Make any size grilled pizza cooked straight on the barbecue and topped with any and all of your favorite toppings. It’s so quick and this pizza dough recipe cooks up just right every time.

I can eat pizza any day of the week – probably even every day of the week. A few years ago, I started making my own pizza regularly and now that the hot summer sun is here, I am loving the ease and deliciousness of homemade grilled pizza whenever I please. We typically do individual pizzas so that everyone can add whichever toppings they like best. Grilled pizza goes great with grilled artichokes, artichoke rice salad or veggies and dill dip.

When I first heard about making pizza on the grill at home, I thought that it would be difficult to get the pizza cooked thoroughly and that the dough would slip through the grate on the grill, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that neither of these things were a problem in the least bit. If you get your grill heated up ahead of time, the dough is thick enough that it toasts up almost immediately and with a layer of oil, it browns, flips, and cooks so well!

Pizza Dough Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon course sea salt
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 ½ cups hot (not boiling) water

Making the Pizza Dough

• In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over hot water (not boiling because you will kill the yeast).
• Place the flour and sea salt into the bowl of a standing mixer (standing mixer is optional, but fast!!)
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle the olive oil over the flour mixture until it is all mixed in and the flour forms small coarse beads – it’ll be kinda crumbly.
• Pour the water/yeast mixture over the flour mixture and mix/stir until a ball of dough forms.

• Coat a glass bowl with olive oil.
• Place the ball of dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Let stand at room temperature for about an hour until pizza dough has at least doubled in size.
• Use at room temperature or store in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Dough can be divided into 3 portions to make 3 medium sized pizzas.
• For oven baking instructions, take a look at this Fig Prosciutto pizza recipe.

Grilled Pizza Ingredients

You can load your grilled pizza with any toppings your little heart desires! The sky is the limit. Dough and olive oil are mandatory, but everything else is just a suggestion to get your creative pizza goals flowing!

• pizza dough
• olive oil
• course sea salt and coarse black pepper
• basil pesto
• tomato or marinara sauce
• fresh or grated mozarella cheese
• fontina, goat, or blue cheese
• prosciutto, pepperoni, sausage, salami, chicken
• tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts, bell peppers
• figs, peaches, apricots, pears, apples

How to Grill a Pizza

• Bring your pizza dough to room temperature if it has been refrigerated.
• Preheat the grill over medium high for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough just a tad larger than the size you want your pizza to be. Be sure to take the size of your grill into consideration!
• Coat both sides of the shaped dough with olive oil.

• Carefully toss the dough onto the grill. Do not press it down or try to move it. Allow it to cook over medium heat until it begins to puff and the shiny dough turns matte. Grill lines should be visible on the bottom of the pizza crust and it should easily lift from the grill without sticking. If it sticks, it is probably not ready to be turned.
• Once the first side has cooked, flip the crust over.
• Load the cooked side of the pizza dough with pesto, homemade marinara sauce, and/or your toppings.
• Close the lid of the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and/or the toppings are cooked to desired doneness.
• That is it!!

Please note that the top of the cheese and toppings will not get brown or bubbly when cooked on the grill. Don’t worry! Your grilled pizza will still be extra delicious!

Here are some additional ideas for delicious pizza topping combinations:

• Margherita pizza – marinara and/or pesto, tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella
• Figs, prosciutto, fontina, fresh mozzarella
• Pesto, grilled chicken, spinach, mushrooms, mozzarella
• Peaches, prosciutto, pesto, fontina
• Pepperoni, olives, and marinara sauce
• Pineapple and pepperoni with marinara and mozzarella- one of my favorites!
• Sausage, pepperoni, marinara, mushrooms, onions, and mozzarella

Grilled Pizza Recipe