How to Grill Pizza – 7 Tips for the Best Grilled Pizza

Now that Memorial Day is approaching, and Summer is right around the corner, many pizza and foodie fans will be starting up their grills for the first time.  There isn't a better time to try out making a delicious grilled pizza.  Pizza is the perfect food for gatherings small and large, or even just a normal weekday family dinner.

Grilling pizza has an additional benefit - it doesn't heat up the house during the Summer months!  Here are Pizza MacGyver's 7 tips for the best grilled pizza:

1)  It’s all about the oil.  Normally I use olive oil in my standard pizza dough, however olive oil doesn’t work as well when subjected to the higher heat that your grill provides.  For this reason, I use organic virgin sunflower oil when grilling anything, pizzas included.  Also, sunflower oil is neutral-tasting and one of the healthiest oils you can use in your diet.  If you don’t have sunflower oil or have a nut allergy, try canola oil.  Canola oil isn’t as neutral as sunflower oil, but it holds up well to high temperature applications.

Make sure you apply a little extra oil to both sides of your crust before throwing it on your grill.  This will help ensure it doesn’t stick.

2)  Speaking of sticking, don’t cook the pizza directly on the grates of your grill!  This is a sure-fire way to have the dough stick to the grates, fall through the grates, or well – start a fire. 

OK, so if you don’t cook the pizza directly on the grill, what do you do?  Use what you have!  You can use any stainless steel baking sheet, cookie sheet, pizza pan, cast iron pan, or something similar.  I actually use a 1/8-inch thick stainless steel vegetable grill pan I picked up at Sur La Table a few years ago.  Here’s what it looks like:

 Just make sure you oil your sheet or pan or grill pan very well with sunflower or canola oil AFTER it has had a chance to preheat on top of your grill.  Oh, and do not use anything with a nonstick coating on your grill.  The high heat of your grill will ruin your nonstick pan or sheet.

You can use a pizza stone or baking steel on your grill, but there is no need to spend big bucks on these things when you already have something in your house that will do the job.

Also, rectangular, or oval, or even amoeba shaped grilled pizza still tastes great!  Don't be worried about getting your pizza to be perfectly round.  Also, cutting the pizza into smaller squares makes it easier to share with a group.  Check out this perfectly crisp, rectangular slice of grilled pizza:

3)  Set the temperature as high as it will go.  Grilling pizza is all about getting a beautifully crisp, slightly charred crust.  Grilling pizza is as close as you can get to having an authentic brick oven or coal fired pizza at home.  To create the results you want, you need to use high temperatures.

4)  Be organized.  Have everything you need right by your side when you are putting the pizza dough on the grill.  Grilling pizza goes very quickly, and if you go back in the house to get something you forgot, you might find your grilled pizza burned to a crisp when you return to it.

Have everything lined up including oil, long handled grill spatula or turner, toppings, grill gloves or oven mitts, and the tray you’ll put the pizza onto after it has finished grilling.

5)  Flip the naked pizza crust once after one to two minutes.  Put your pizza dough onto your sheet or pan with nothing on it for one to two minutes.  Flip it over, and then put your toppings on it.  This will ensure your pizza crust is perfectly cooked and it is less likely to burn using this method.

6)  Go easy on the toppings.  The crust is going to grill up very fast.  You don’t want your crust to be done and your toppings not cooked through or the cheese melted.  Use at most one measured cup of shredded cheese on a 14-inch round pizza, and one to two toppings.  I sometimes go a little “topping crazy” when building my pizzas, but this isn’t one of those times. 

Also, I use a thicker sauce that is lightly applied to the crust.  I recommend my One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce - you will only need to use half of this quick recipe for your grilled pizza.  My One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce is the right consistency for the job and adds quite a bit of flavor as well.  If you use a sauce that is too thin, you run the risk of having a soggy crust or a pizza that falls apart when you try to take it off the grill.  Barbecue sauce is also great for a BBQ pizza.

7)  Use only cooked meats or very thinly sliced vegetables for toppings.  If you plan to use some kind of meat for your topping, such as sausage or bacon, make sure they are fully cooked.  The meaty toppings won’t have a chance to cook thoroughly before the rest of your pizza is done.

Veggies won’t cook through either if they are cut too thick.  Thinly slice your peppers, onions, or mushrooms (I know they’re technically fungi) to ensure your veggie pizza will be a success.

Need any other tips for how to grill pizza?  Or do you have a general question about homemade pizza?  Please feel free to leave a comment or contact me.