This is quite possibly the best pizza I’ve ever had. Its certainly the best pizza I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a lot of pizza 
I developed this during the summer when I quite literally cook every single meal except for breakfast on my grill outside.
Because the pizza isn’t sitting on a baking sheet, the crust gets nice and crispy on the bottom, while still being soft and doughy on top. That to me is the PERFECT combination.
Sprinkle your portable working surface with corn meal. The corn meal will help you slide the pizza dough from the working surface onto your grill. Make sure you use a flat working surface, so you can slide the dough instead of having to lift it. I use the bottom side of a baking sheet.
Turn the heat to Low directly underneath your crust, and high or medium/high near your crust, but not directly underneath it. Your pizza is going to be on the grill for a while, and you don’t want it to burn. I have a $59.95 several year old end of the summer super sale cheapo Gas grill. Your settings mileage may vary
While the lid is obviously open so I could take photographs, in general the idea is to leave the lid closed so the heat from the opposite side of the grill will heat the grill up like an oven.
Tip: You should try your best to get the dough flat onto the grill. Fixing a folded over pizza crust can be a challenge. Corn meal is your friend here. However, if you don’t get it placed perfectly the first time, and you wish it was in a different part of the grill, just let it cook for a few minutes until its a little firmer. The dough will not stick and will be easier to move around after its a little cooked.
You should pre cook as many of your toppings as possible. This will help cook the water out of your ingredients (mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, etc). Moisture is a pizza killer. Warmer ingredients also help the pizza cook faster once you pile all your toppings on top.
The dough is ready to be topped when its puffed up and full of air. At this point, the bottom should be less than golden brown, but firm. The top should be soft, but cooked through.
Prep all your toppings, and put them on your hot dough. For this time around, I used mushrooms, feta, olives, onions, grilled peppers, sausage, basil, pepperoni, and mozzerella. Almost all of which were sitting in my refrigerator as left overs.
mmmmm this looks good. ready to go on the grill again. Remember, low heat underneath, and high or medium/high heat on the other side.
Lid closed for about 10-15 minutes. Let all those toppings heat up, and let your cheese melt. I usually rotate it at least once so that the one side of the pizza up against the high heat doesn’t burn.
I added some cilantro at the very end (again, left over)
Mmmmmmmmmm….
I used Trader joes pizza crust for the above pictures, but pizza dough is really easy to make in a breadmaker if you have one. Sometimes I’ll use pesto instead of a tomato based sauce. Experiment with different cheeses too. I often use pizza as a repository for “left over bits and pieces of cheese” of all kinds.
Let me know if this inspires you to make grilled pizza!
Easyman says:
wow! that looks delicious. I’m going to try it. I’ve never though of putting cilantro on pizza!
5 October 2007, 4:51 pmBJ says:
I made this for the first time after finding your site last night, and it was incredibly tasty. I also used trader joes pizza dough. It was soft and crispy at the same time. Thanks so much for the howto guide. I had problems transfering the dough to the grill, it folded over on itself, but it tasted just fine when everything was said and done. It was just shaped a little funny.
Thanks again.
12 April 2008, 6:17 pmKen says:
Waaay too many toppings for a grilled pizza, keep it simple imo!
17 May 2008, 7:42 pme-dog says:
Color me inspired. I am going to try this pizza, but I am going to use a smoker.
20 May 2008, 4:20 pmJohn says:
Necessity is the mother of invention! I started grilling pizza when my oven started taking 45 minutes to come up to temp. Out of frustration I set up my Foreman grill covered it and set it to max heat. I cook the dough for 4 minutes on the grill, take it off, flip it over and add the toppings. Our favorite toppings are mozzarella, home made Tuscan sausage, mushrooms and plenty of garlic. I then return it to the grill and cook it for about 12 minutes or until the crust is nice and brown and the cheese is melted. The first time I did pizza this way it blew me away! It tasted just like the pizza I used to get at the pizzerias in the Bronx as a kid. I live in Maine and anyone who is familiar with the state knows that it is “culturally” challenged so if I want anything of an “ethnic” nature I have to make it myself. Incidentally, I have been stuffing my own sausages for close to 40 years. Nothing beats it for taste.
2 August 2008, 10:00 amNadine Saunders says:
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12 November 2008, 5:58 pmGanesh Kumar says:
I tried this with my electric grill (which has heating coils on top and bottom and can be controlled individually). Its great ! btw, do you add anything like garlic to the dough?
2 October 2010, 6:12 pmJames says:
In response to “Ken” w/ message he made back on 17 May 2008, 7:42 pm:
No offense, but what the hell are you talking about, “Way too many toppings for a grilled pizza…..”?…lol! I believe there may be a cap for toppings on something as fragile as a “grilled pizza”, but this individual didn’t use that much at all! I personally would have added maybe a couple more things. Are you one of these pizza pie purists who think their way is the best? Everyone is different, and everyone has different tastes and their own unique approach to doing things. Just wanted to remind you of that, chief.
And as you can see by the end results of the pics here, it looks like it turned out fine to me. Why you have to rain on people’s parades, dude?
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