For our family, grilled pizza has become a warm-weather tradition. As soon as Mother Nature cooperates, we are outside, spatula in hand, ready to slap some dough on the grill. My family likes the hands-on preparation of making their pizzas the way “they like them,” and I like that the pizza only contains the ingredients that I want…no fillers or extras that we shouldn’t eat. Plus, it is faster than carry out and much cheaper!

I always start with my favorite pizza dough recipe. This is a pared-down version of America’s Test Kitchen’s pizza dough. I cut the recipe in half, therefore making enough dough for eight grilled pizzas or four grilled pizzas and one family-size pizza. I also make my own sauce, which I created through trial and error based on our preferences.

To begin, make the pizza dough about two hours before you plan to grill. Though grilled pizza is fast, it does require a little prep work. After making the dough, I put together the sauce.

Once the dough is ready, it must be divided. As shown above, I divide the dough in half and each half into fourths. (In this case, I put half of the dough back into the refrigerator and used it the next night for a pizza that I baked in the oven.) The dough needs to sit a few minutes prior to pressing into pizza crusts, so I use that time to put together small bowls of toppings.

We each have our own preferences for toppings, and that’s what makes grilled pizza so much fun! Everyone gets their own bowl of toppings, and I try to remember to add the mozzarella cheese to the bottom of each bowl first…that way, the cheese ends up on the top of the pizza when added on the grill. My husband and kids like pepperoni, green olives, and cheese on their pizzas. I like tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onion, and cheese on my pizza. If I have feta cheese, I’ll use it in place of the mozzarella and adding fresh basil is also a treat! Be as creative as you want. Just remember not to overload your pizza!

After letting the dough rest, I add a drizzle of olive oil to a dinner plate and begin to press the dough into rounds. This doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, I think the more rustic, the better! 🙂 Transferring the dough to the grill can cause the dough to get a little misshaped, too. No worries! It will taste great!

Use your finger tips to press the dough out on the plate. You can use the palm of your hand once the dough spreads a bit. I also flip the dough and make sure both sides get coated in oil. I don’t want it to stick to the grill.

Repeat the process with each piece of dough.

I use wax paper between the individual crusts to stack the dough on a dinner plate to take to the grill. The paper can help in flipping the dough onto the grill, just be sure to remove it quickly! Wax paper does burn!!!

To prepare the grill, preheat it to at least 450°. We make sure to clean the grates well with a brush, too, before putting our crusts on to cook. Also, be sure to have all your tools and ingredients ready to go! This will be very fast once you start cooking.

I would suggest that along with your crusts and toppings, you use a brush to add your sauce, bring a long set of tongs to flip the crust, and a large spatula to remove the pizza once it’s cooked. Remember clean plates for each pizza, too.

Step #1: After heating the grill, add crust to the grates. We typically add two pizzas side-by-side. Watch the underneath side. Once the crust begins to bubble, we flip and are ready for step #2.

Step #2: Brush on the pizza sauce. We do this relatively quickly, as we still need to add the toppings and cheese. Remember: the bottom of the crust is close to the flame. The goal is to cook the crust and melt the cheese without a burnt pizza.

Step #3: Add toppings, preferably adding the cheese last so it melts and makes everything gooey and tasty! However, you can add your toppings in whatever order you choose. It’s your pizza done your way! 🙂 Cook until the cheese melts and the pizza is done as desired. Be sure to watch the temperature and turn it down, if necessary. Sometimes, I shut the grill lid to help the cheese melt faster. (It is extremely windy at our house most of the time, so keeping the grill nice and hot can be challenging.)

Step #4: Remove grilled pizza carefully to a plate and eat! If you need to keep pizzas warm until all crusts are cooked, simply have your oven preheated to 200º. Place the cooked pizzas on a cookie sheet and leave them in the warm oven until all your pizzas are finished.

The grill gives these little pizzas a slight smoky flavor and a great, crisp crust! It is like having a brick-oven pizza whenever you want!  Make it vegetarian or make it meat-lover’s, it’s COMPLETELY up to you! This is a great way to involve children in cooking, as long as they are closely monitored near the grill.

Please enjoy these little pieces of happiness! Grilled pizza is fun to make for sleepovers and on Friday night pizza and movie nights. The unlimited choices for toppings will appeal to all your guests, and the easy kitchen clean up will appeal to you. If the weather is nice, I encourage you to get outside and try this recipe. You’ll be glad you did!