Ever wondered how to make a grilled pizza? It’s simple if you have a pizza stone! Your grill can easily become a smoky, sensational place to cook your pizza. It’s the perfect way to enjoy a summer evening… whip up some dough for crust, purchase a few toppings, and presto! You’ve got a pizza party. My family is enjoying the process a few times a month now, we make it a group activity. Everybody likes their pizza different… my favorite is marinara, mozzarella, goat cheese and sliced ripe tomatoes topped with fresh basil (and some hot red pepper flakes to spice things up a bit!). My husband likes sliced jalapenos on his. We all prefer a thin crust; I’ve shared our go-to thin crust recipe below.
Here are the supplies you’ll need to grill a pizza:
– A grill (naturally!) – gas or charcoal grills work equally well
– Pizza Peel (large pizza spatula), or another moveable slick surface (like a cutting board) for transferring the pizza on and off of the heated pizza stone
– Spatula (large and wide is best) for helping to nudge/guide the pizza on and off the pizza stone
There are dough recipes that you can cook directly on the grill, but I find them heavy and overly doughy. We much prefer the thinner crust recipe shared here, which requires a pizza stone, because it allows us to enjoy more slices and highlights the toppings. Thicker crusts tend to leave me feeling overly full, I can only stomach a slice or two before I’m done. Thin crust means I can enjoy small slices of lots of different pizzas, as well as a side salad, without overdoing it!
If by chance you don’t have a grill or a pizza stone, you can also bake pizza in your oven. I’ve provided instructions for that method below as well. If you’re keeping kosher and you’re concerned about cooking cheesy pizza on your meat grill, the oven method is an excellent choice.
What’s your favorite way to top a grilled pizza?
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Thin Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup warm water not hot!
- 1 teaspoon sugar honey or agave will also work well
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for greasing bowl
- Sauce (4-6 tbsp) and toppings of your choice
NOTES
Instructions
To make dough
- Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Let sit until frothy, about 10 minutes. This will activate the yeast-- it should look foamy. If it doesn't, your yeast may be expired... go get some fresh yeast!
- In a large bowl, combine flour and kosher salt. Add the yeast mixture along with the olive oil and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface. Knead the dough for 5 minutes and shape into a ball.
- Rinse out the bowl where you mixed the dough ingredients and grease it with olive oil (or cooking oil spray). Place the dough into the greased mixing bowl and turn to coat.
- Cover with a warm wet towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat grill or oven at this time-- details below. Punch down the dough ball down flat and place on a well floured surface. To roll out, start in the middle and roll towards the edges, giving a quarter turn with each back-and-forth motion. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll out to roughly 10”-11" across.
- Place the crust on a well floured moveable, slick cutting board or onto a well floured large pizza spatula-- this will help you to transfer the pizza to a hot pizza stone once it is topped. It's very important to flour the moveable surface well so that the crust doesn't stick when you transfer it.
- Brush the surface of the crust with a little olive oil.
- Now you're ready for toppings! I've found that this crust works best with 4-6 tablespoons of sauce and a few toppings... it's a thin crust, so best not to overload it. Whatever sauce you use, make sure it's nice and thick-- watery sauces will penetrate the crust and cause it to go limp, which will make it harder to transfer to the oven.You can bake this recipe in the oven or on your grill. Either way, you should have a pizza stone preheated and ready to go before you cook. The pizza stone will ensure that your crust bakes evenly and has a nice crispness.
Instructions for cooking your pizza on the grill
- Insert pizza stone onto your grill, close the cover, and preheat over medium flames. You should start the grill heating when your dough has doubled in size before you start rolling out the crust. This will save time, and you don't want your toppings sitting on the uncooked crust for an extended period of time, or it will go soggy.
- Once everything is heated, slide your assembled pizza directly onto the pizza stone (or baking sheet). This can be tricky; you may need the help of another small spatula to guide the crust onto the heated stone. Having a well floured surface will help it slide with ease. Close the grill cover.
- Grill the pizza for 10-12 minutes, or to desired doneness. I grill it until the outer edges are golden brown all the way around the crust.
Instructions for cooking your pizza in the oven
- Instructions for traditional oven - insert pizza stone (or sheet pan if you don't have one) into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. You should start the oven heating when your dough has doubled in size before you start rolling out the crust. This will save time, and you don't want your toppings sitting on the uncooked crust for an extended period of time, or it will go soggy. Once everything is heated, slide your assembled pizza directly onto the pizza stone (or baking sheet). You may need the help of another small spatula to guide the crust onto the heated stone. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or to desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking. I bake it until the outer edges are golden brown all the way around the crust.
Nutrition
Found this recipe while looking for grill ale pizza because we’ve been hitting the grill pretty hard this summer. With fresh san marzanos, lettuce leaf basil, and fresh, local mozzarella? The perfect grilled pizza.
Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
This was delicious! It tastes just like it came from a wood fired pizza restaurant! The first time, I used a Kitchen Aide mixer (the dough mixer) and it wasn’t as good as when I kneaded the dough with my hands. I topped it with pesto, artichokes, Kalamata olives, mushrooms, mozzarella, provolone, goat cheese and a little bit of lemon juice. So yummy!
I’ve used this recipe a number of times and think it’s fantastic. I would make the suggestion to use parchment paper on your pizza peel for easier transfer on and off the stone. Also, using stale beer in place of the water gives a nice flavor.
This dough recipe was easy to make and absolutely delicious!! It’s one of the best ones out there!!
I am trying this now. Thank you so much. What a fun activity, cmon who doesn’t love pizza!
Truth!
OMG!! Summer is just arriving, BBQ just being cleared of hibernating spiders etc. And this has to be the go to of all recipes I have seen yet.. I have a pizza oven that goes inside the BBQ, so just drooling thinking about my pizza!! Well done Tori 🙂 Will let you know how it goes…
Could i use beer in the crust always wanted to try thanks
Hi Michele! This recipe wouldn’t work with beer, it’s key to use warm water to activate the yeast. There might be a beer crust out there, I’ve never tried one though. It’s an interesting idea!
Use Sourdough to get that beer yeasty taste!