Dinner Tonight: Grilled Pizza
Yes…that pizza came off my outdoor grill. Here’s the thing…at the beginning of the summer, I’m all excited about grilling and not turning the oven on inside. I’m inspired and motivated to create wonderful and unique meals for my family. By the end of July, I’m over it. In Texas, it’s so hot, so humid, so miserable that I can’t even stand going outside to get the mail much less stand over a hot grill. At that point, I might start blogging about cereal for dinner. Step 1: pour a bowl of Lucky Charms, Step 2: pour milk on top. By mid-August, I can smell Fall in the air and I’m the most food motivated of the entire year. It’s just that 2-3 week period in there were I’m just too darn hot to think about food. That being said, this is one of those enthusiastic, inspired dinners of early summer. And it was much easier than I thought…I just re-made this recipe for Chicken Sausage Pizza and put it on the grill instead of the oven. Right now, I’m just showing you the method of grilling your pizza (and repeating the same toppings as my other recipe). Take this method and run with it…top your grilled pizza with whatever you like. Just try grilling it…it’s a ton of fun!
Shopping List
Pizza Dough (click here for my recipe)
1 jar pizza sauce
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded
2 cups spinach leaves (we buy the bagged spinach over by the bagged salads)
1 cup pepperoni (optional…we like turkey pepperoni along with the sausage)
1 cup basil leaves, torn into big pieces (not finely chopped)
1 pound sausage (we used chicken sausage), cut into rounds and already cooked (see below!)
A pizza stone (a must for outdoor pizza grilling…trust me…we tried using other things at first)
Do not preheat your outdoor grill. The stone needs to be placed on a cold grill or else it will crack. Pizza stones are sold everywhere…grocery stores, Target, Walmart…and they’re pretty inexpensive (less than $20).
Roll out your crust onto your pizza stone. Top pizza with ingredients in order given above. Place pizza on outdoor grill and turn on to medium heat. Close lid of grill and cook about 15 minutes, checking on it occasionally. Once pizza is golden and bubbly, remove from grill.
Slice and serve!
Ok…about the sausage…we like the chicken sausage from behind the butcher’s counter. However, you can use any kind of sausage you like (turkey, pork, etc.). I slice my sausage into rounds and cook them in a skillet with a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for about 10 minutes before putting them on my pizza. This gets the sausage nice and brown and cooked through.
Have fun grilling your pizza!! It’s a nice alternative to burger night.
Do you use gas or charcoal grill and would it even matter? We always grill at our pond house-the kids would love creating their own pizzas.
We use gas but you can totally use charcoal. It doesn't matter at all! Enjoy!
Looks amazing! Can't wait to try it!
Just made your Nutella bundt cake!! mmmmmm! Thanks Mix and Match Mama!!
hey…I have several pizza stones. I think 1 is pamperered chef…I don't really want to buy a new one. Is there a way to tell if the one(s) I have can be used on a grill? I guess I am wondering…what is the WORST thing that can happen?
Hey Tara,
Your pizza stone should work just fine. The key is to put a cold stone on a cold grill. You don't want to put your stone on a hot grill or it will crack. Enjoy your pizza!!
Yum. One of our favorite family dinners is to make up crusts ahead of time, precook, and then have a lot of different ingredients so everyone can design their own before being put on the pizza stone on the gas grill.
I have wanted to try this for awhile now. I have lots of fresh basil & tomatoes for a yummy pizza.
Did you have any issues with your pizza sticking to the stone?
If your pizza is sticking, adding extra cornmeal to the stone can help as well as some veggie oil.
Thanks! I keep reading mixed reviews about preheating your pizza stone. You just put your stone on your cold oven and start cooking right then? Also, I need to cook 2 pizzas-Is it ok to use the same stone for the 2nd one even though it'll be warm?Sorry for all of the questions!
For your second pizza, don't remove the stone from the grill, try and slide the pizza off while keeping the stone on…and then place your new pizza on top of the stone. (Or if you do take the stone off, replace it right away). Stones crack when cold stones go on hot grills…but at this point, you'll have a hot stone on a hot grill, so it won't crack. You'll love this method :).
Ok great!! Thank you so much! 🙂