If you have never tried cooking pizza on the grill, now is the time to try! These easy to follow instructions include a recipe for homemade dough that makes the best crust for grilling pizza on a stone. Choose your favorite toppings and fire up the grill for the best pizza night at home!
This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated for content.
Pizza on the grill is one of our favorite summertime dinners. It gives the pizza such a unique flavor and the crust gets perfectly crispy on the bottom while still staying chewy on the inside.
I love serving these pizza on the grill with a nice antipasto salad, melon prosciutto salad and lemon sorbet!
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🍕 Ingredient notes
- Dough/Crust - This homemade pizza dough recipe is easy to put together and has amazing flavor. Store bought pizza dough may be used or even a premade pizza crust. Approximately 1 pound of pizza dough is needed for each 12-inch pizza.
- Sauce - I always have a batch of my old school italian gravy (affiliate link) on hand to use for pizza, pasta and other dishes. You can also use your favorite store-bought pizza sauce. You will need ½ cup of sauce for each 12-inch pizza.
- Toppings - This recipe includes Italian sausage, ricotta cheese, and also fresh oregano for the toppings. However, you can use whatever your favorite toppings are for your pizza.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Mix and knead your pizza dough and let it rise. If you are using store-bought pizza dough, these steps can be skipped.
Preheat the grill on high heat and then place the pizza stone (affiliate link) on the grill. Allow it to heat up for at least 5 minutes and then lightly sprinkle it with cornmeal.
Stretch out the pizza dough and lay it on the pizza stone. Gently press it onto the stone in an even layer and then brush it with olive oil. Close the grill and let the crust cook for about 5 minutes till lightly browned on the bottom and the olive oil is bubbling on top.
Using kitchen tongs, slide the crust off of the stone and then directly onto the grill grates. Top the crust with the sauce and toppings and then close the grill to finish cooking.
Cook pizza another 5-7 minutes until the crust is browned on the bottom and the cheese slightly melted. Remove the pizza from the grill and sprinkle it with any fresh toppings, like the oregano leaves. Repeat with any remaining pizza dough you have.
If you ever don't recognize a tool or skill that is mentioned, be sure to look it up in our Glossary of Cooking Terms and Definitions for more information.
⭐ Expert tips
- Make sure to sprinkle the pizza stone with cornmeal before adding the pizza dough. It helps to prevent sticking and makes it easy to slide to the grill grates when needed.
- Be careful not to overload the pizzas with toppings so they are easy to transfer off of the stone and the grill.
- Allow the grilled pizzas to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving so the toppings don't slide off the pizza.
🍕 Pizza topping ideas
- Meat - salami, diced ham, grilled chicken, pepperoni or meatballs
- Cheese - fresh mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, feta
- Vegetables/Fruit - peppers, pineapple, olives, garlic, fresh herbs, greens
- Sauce - alfredo sauce, pesto, olive oil
🥘 Alternative cooking methods
- Oven - Cook pizzas in an oven at 475˚ on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Pre-bake the crusts for 5 minutes before adding toppings and placing them back in the oven to finish cooking.
⏲️ Make ahead instructions
Crust - Make the dough, allow it to rise, and then pre-cook the dough on the grill. Instead of adding the toppings, remove the crust from the grill and allow it to cool completely. Wrap the pre-cooked crust in plastic wrap and then store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days or the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen crusts and then finish cooking them on the grill with your desired toppings.
🍕 More pizza recipes
If you loved this recipe for pizza on the grill, try these other pizza recipes that I know you will love too!
📖 Recipe
Pizza on the Grill {with a stone}
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pizza dough, homemade or store bought, divided into two pieces
- cornmeal
- olive oil
- italian gravy (affiliate link), or pizza sauce
- cooked ground italian sausage
- whole milk ricotta cheese
- fresh oregano leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the grill on high heat and then add the pizza stone (affiliate link) to allow it to heat up for at least 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal and then stretch out one of the pieces of pizza dough (affiliate link) to the size of the stone. Lay it on the stone and gently press it down to cover it completely in an even layer.
- Brush the dough lightly with olive oil and close the grill to allow the crust to pre-cook for 5-7 minutes until it is lightly browned on the bottom and the olive oil is bubbling on the top.
- Using kitchen or grilling tongs, slide the crust off of the stone and directly onto the grill grates.
- Top the pizza crust with the italian gravy (affiliate link) and toppings and then close the grill to finish cooking for about 5-7 minutes. The crust should be browned on the bottom, the sauce should be bubbling and the cheese should be slightly melted.
- Remove the pizza from the grill and onto a cutting board. Sprinkle with fresh oregano and repeat with the remaining pizza dough.
- Allow the grilled pizzas to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Alternative Pizza Toppings
- Meat - salami, diced ham, grilled chicken, pepperoni
- Cheese - fresh mozzarella, parmesan, provolone or feta
- Vegetables/Fruit - peppers, pineapple, olives, garlic, fresh herbs or greens
- Sauce - alfredo sauc (affiliate link)e, pesto (affiliate link), olive oil
Alternative Cooking Methods
- Oven - Pre-cook the crusts in the oven at 475˚on a sheet pan or pizza stone for 5 minutes before adding toppings and placing them back in the oven to finish.
- Without a stone - Pre-cook crusts on a sturdy sheet pan sprinkled with cornmeal in the oven or on the grill. Top and finish in the oven or transfer to grill grates to finish cooking.
Sandi Watson
NEVER, never, never put a cold stone on a hot grill is what I have read on at least 10 different sites...I take their advice rather than putting a cold stone on the grill as you suggest since you are the only one I have found to give that advice...can't wait to try our stone for the first time to make a yummy pizza...I like the toppings you suggest, some I hadn't thought to use before...thanks for the suggestions...
Amanda Scarlati
Hey Sandi - Thanks for mentioning that, I should put more details instructions. I typically have my stone outside next to the grill so it's not cold, but warm when you put it on. Putting a cold stone onto a hot grill can cause damage and cracking. I'll make sure revise that so there is no confusing. Happy cooking!
Paul
There is no reason to slide the pizza off the stone and finish it on the grate. It will cook just fine on the hot stone.
Amanda
Hey Paul - It will cook just fine on the pizza stone. I happen to like the extra char and smoke from it being cooked right on the grates, but either way works!