Pizza on the Grill
Delicious crust with char and melty cheese from your outdoor grill? Yes, yes, and yes with Pizza on the Grill!
I know this can be intimidating. I mean, floppy dough on hot grates, dripping cheese flame-ups, and toppings falling into the abyss. A lot can go wrong.
However, there are some tricks to achieving a crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside crust with melty cheese and savory toppings.
Tips for Grilling Pizza
- Plan ahead. Putting together from-scratch dough will require a couple of hours but it is so worth it. But even if you aren’t making dough, plan your toppings and grate the cheese ahead so everything is ready. Once the dough hits the grill things move quickly.
- Start with the right dough. Sure you can grill most doughs (including store-bought), but one made with bread flour or Italian 00 flour is sturdier and easier to work with. Plus, a nice chew is achieved with these flours.
- The grill needs to be hot. This is the eleventy-eth time we’ve talked about the grill needing to be hot, but the caveat here is it shouldn’t be too hot. 350 to 400F/180 to 200C is just right for grilling pizza.
- Oil the grates. A light brush with oil will help to prevent anything from sticking to the grates.
- Tools are your friend. If you have a pizza peel, great, use that. But I don’t, so I use a large metal spatula and a pair of tongs to move the pizza off the grill in one piece.
- Don’t overload. Keep it simple when it comes to toppings. Too much and the cheese doesn’t completely melt, the dough becomes soggy, and items start falling off.
Next, let’s talk about making the dough.
Homemade Pizza Dough
If you’ve never worked with yeast before you might think this is too hard, but I assure you it is not. There are a few ways to make pizza dough and some require overnight proofing (have you tried my cast iron pizza recipe?). But the one we are making today is an easy peasy, stir it together dough.
Bread flour and 00 flour are both higher in gluten and protein than all-purpose flour. And so what? Because of this, the webby gluten network that forms from them keeps the dough stretchy and helps it to proof up bubbly so that when it hits the heat the crust develops a crispy, crackly exterior and a soft and chewy interior.
Perfectly delicious!
Lessons Learned
- Grate all your cheeses and chop all the toppings ahead of time and set up a work station. It makes assembly of the pizzas quick and easy!
- The dough recipe makes two 10-inch pizzas, 3 to 4 mini pizzas, or one giant pizza for those who are brave like that.
- Leave out the toppings you don't like and replace them with ones you do. Anchovies? Go for it. You're an adult so you can do what you want.
Hat Tips
Many thanks to King Arthur Baking for their grilled pizza recipe.
Pizza on the Grill
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Proof Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes plus proofing
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 ½ cups Italian 00 or bread flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Toppings:
- Olive oil for brushing
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup pepperoni, shrimp, or other cooked meat
- 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms, olives, or zucchini
- Freshly chopped basil or parsley
Instructions
- Tip all the dough ingredients into a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with a large spoon or the paddle attachment until the ingredients come together into a sticky ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. This allows the flour to hydrate and soak up liquids.
- After 30 minutes, use a spatula or a wet hand to scrape the dough from the bowl on one side, lift it up, and then press it down into the middle of the dough ball. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat, working your way around the bowl until the dough has been lifted and pressed into the middle 8-ish times. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest again for 30 minutes (or up to 3 hours if you are preparing this ahead).
- Deflate the dough and pull all the edges into the center of the dough. Flip it over and divide it into two equal pieces. Shape both pieces into a ball, cover with plastic and let rest again, last time, I promise, for 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours) so it will stretch nicely when you roll it out.
- Preheat the grill to 350F/180C. Scrape any residue from the grill grates and lightly oil the grates with an oily paper towel or rag.
- Now is the time to prep all the toppings. You want everything ready and in place once the dough hits the grill. I like to place each topping in a small bowl then place the bowls on a rimmed baking sheet for transport to the outdoor grill.
- Dust parchment paper with flour. Place one dough ball on the parchment and sprinkle with flour. Start pressing the dough with your fingertips as you depress it and stretch it into a 10-inch round. Repeat with the second dough ball on a separate sheet of parchment.
- Lightly brush the dough rounds with olive oil. Transfer to to the grill, oiled side down. Close the top and cook for 4 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.
- Remove partially cooked dough from the grill to a cutting board or baking sheet and flip it over so that the cooked side is facing up. Add the sauce, cheese, meat, and veggies.
- Return pizzas to the grill, close the top, and cook for 4-ish minutes until the bottom is golden brown and cheese is melty.
- Brush the outer edges with more olive oil, if desired, then slice and eat!
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