How to Make Grilled Pizza

There’s nothing quite like the smoky, charred flavor of grilled pizza, but if you’ve ever ended up with a soggy crust, burnt toppings, or cheese sliding everywhere, you’re not alone. Most people make one crucial mistake that ruins the texture—but not anymore! With my foolproof method, you’ll learn exactly how to make grilled pizza the right way, with a crispy-yet-chewy crust, perfectly cooked toppings, and that irresistible wood-fired taste (without needing a pizza oven). Whether you’re a grilling pro or a first-timer, these expert tips will take your homemade pizza to the next level!

 

Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza is quite a treat and so easy to make. While it may seem difficult, it’s really just as easy as making pizza in the oven, but you get the extra flavors from the grill. 

Honestly, I thought it would be too complicated. How do you put dough directly on the grill without it sticking or falling apart? Do you need a special pan or a pizza stone? It felt like too much hassle—until I finally gave it a shot. And let me tell you, I wish I hadn’t waited so long! Grilled pizza isn’t just easy; it’s a total game-changer. The smoky, charred flavor takes homemade pizza to another level, and the crust turns out crispier and more delicious than ever. Now, I’ve perfected the process, and I’m here to share all the tricks that make it foolproof — so you can skip the trial and error and get straight to making the best grilled pizza ever. Trust me, once you try it, you’ll never go back!

Ingredients Needed to Grill Pizza

• Pizza dough store bought or your favorite recipe
• Pizza sauce
• Olive oil – about 2 tablespoons, plus extra for grill
• Mozzarella cheese – it’s best to shred this yourself
• Toppings – pepperoni, small bell peppers, mushrooms, onions or other vegetables
• Seasonings – I used a special pizza herb medley (Italian seasonings work great)
• Salt and pepper

How to Make Grilled Pizza

It’s important when making grilled pizza to prep all of your ingredients: shred your cheese, chop all the veggies, have your sauce ready to spread, and have any seasonings nearby, ready to sprinkle on the pizza. For this recipe I used a special pizza seasoning blend, Herbs special Pizza from The French Farm, and a little salt and pepper. The flavor was amazing!

I used a simple pizza dough recipe that is easy to put together and that you can roll out with ease. I use this recipe and make it at least 3-4 hours before I’m going to use it. This recipe makes enough dough for two 6-inch pizzas. You can really make the crusts any size, shape you want depending on the size grill you have. We opted to give each member of the family their own pizza! So, we had fresh mozzarella, mushrooms and pepperoni on one. Veggies on another. Just cheese on another.

Making grilled pizza is hardly a recipe, it’s more about the steps involved in being prepared. The flavor you get from the grill is amazing. And, it’s a great way to keep you house cool in the summer by not having to heat up the oven just for pizza.

Grilled Pizza Tips

• Cook the pizza dough for several minutes before you put on the toppings
• Get your grill HOT! I usually bake pizza in the kitchen oven at 475 or 500. The grill is no different. I used a gas grill, but charcoal would work great too.
• Have all of your ingredients prepared (grate the cheese, slice the mushrooms, have your sauce next to you) before you start cooking the crust
• Cook the pizza with the grill lid closed
• Grease the grill AND the pizza dough (do this by spreading olive oil on one side of the pizza crust)

Don’t Make This Mistake

The one mistake most people make that ruins the texture of grilled pizza is not grilling the dough first before adding toppings.

Many people try to assemble the pizza with sauce, cheese, and toppings before placing it on the grill, which leads to a soggy, undercooked crust or burnt toppings. Instead, you should:

1. Grill one side of the dough first over direct heat until it’s golden and slightly firm.
2. Flip it over, then quickly add sauce, cheese, and toppings while the second side cooks.
3. Move the pizza to indirect heat to finish melting the cheese and cooking the toppings without burning the bottom.

This method ensures a crispy, sturdy crust with perfectly cooked toppings every time!

Grilled Pizza

Print

Pin

Rate

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

• ▢ Pizza dough store bought or your favorite recipe
• ▢ Pizza sauce
• ▢ Olive oil about 2 tablespoons, plus extra for grill
• ▢ Mozzarella cheese
• ▢ Pepperoni or veggies
• ▢ Seasonings I used Fresh Farms’ Herbs Special Pizza
• ▢ Salt and Pepper

Instructions

• Heat grill
• Make dough using your favorite recipe, let rise
  Pizza dough
• Roll dough into shape you want for your pizza
• Cut all vegetables to preferred size
• Place all ingredients next to grill
• Put olive oil on one side of pizza dough
  Olive oil
• Rub olive oil on grates of grill
• Place pizza olive oil side down on grill and close lid. Cook for 3-4 minutes until you see large bubbles and grill marks on the bottom.
• Flip pizza and add toppings (olive oil, pizza sauce, seasonings, cheese, veggies and pepperoni)
  Pizza sauce, Mozzarella cheese, Pepperoni or veggies, Seasonings, Salt and Pepper
• Close lid and cook for 3-4 more minutes until cheese is melted
• Slide pizza off grill onto plate

Rate this Recipe Pin Recipe Share Recipe

Did You Make This Recipe?

Don’t forget to share it with me on @thebalancingmom and follow on Tiktok @balancingmotherhood and Pinterest @thebalancingmom for more!

This post is part of Cookout Week where I partnered with other bloggers to create and share amazing cookout recipes. I received complimentary products to try, but did not receive any compensation.