How to Make Pizza on the Grill

Typically, when we do recipes or technique articles, we point towards hearty, robust proteins. Legs of lamb, pork butt, ribeyes -- that sort of thing. But one of our favorite things about grilling is the versatility that comes with the cooking method. The truth is, you can grill just about anything. Today, we’re talking the ultimate crowd pleaser -- pizza!

We’re going with a pulled pork pizza. Seeing as we are going to be grilling our pizza, we thought the pulled pork idea would make sense. You can basically put anything you want on your pizza, of course -- get creative, and have fun with it! Grilling a pizza is a great way to get the whole family in on the action. It’s a great option for a backyard picnic this summer.

While we typically champion a slow-and-low cooking philosophy, pizza requires a bit more than that. For this process, we are going to want our grill at 300-400 degrees, or medium/medium-high. We can make a pizza on just about any kind of grill -- gas, charcoal, whatever you have will work great!

There’s no shortage of pizza dough recipes online should you want to make your own crust, but we found prepared, thin crusts to work best on the grill. As for the sauce, there’s plenty of options there too. Your local organic supermarket will probably carry some great, all-natural pizza sauces, or you can make your own. Protip: Got a favorite pizzeria? Often they will sell some of their sauce if you give them a call.

Before it’s time to assemble your pizza, make sure you have a grill mat (round works great!). Once you’ve got yourself a non stick grill mat for your pizza, go ahead and place your uncooked dough on top of it. Use a ladle to pour some sauce onto your dough, and then use the back of the ladle to evenly spread the sauce around.

From there, it’s time to put on your toppings. With a thin crust, stick to just 2-3 toppings, or you’ll have a hard time keeping everything on the pizza. Once you’ve got your toppings on, add some high-quality, shredded mozzarella. This cheese is going to act as the glue, keeping everything on the pizza and out of your lap. Just a sidenote here -- we don’t recommend buying pre-shredded mozzarella. Pre-grated cheeses usually have a wax applied to them to prevent clumping. This wax also changes the way the cheese melts -- for the worse! Instead, grab some fresh cheese, a box-grater, and use some good ol’ elbow grease.

Once the entire pizza is assembled and the grill is hot, carefully slide your pizza onto the grates of the grill. The pizza is going to cook very quickly -- usually it will be fully done in 8-10 minutes. Because of this, we’d suggest keeping a keen eye on your pizza. If one side seems to be darkening more quickly, rotate it halfway through cooking. When the edges have browned and the cheese has melted, it’s time to eat! Grilled pizza -- simple, quick, and delicious!