Pizza on the Grill! Dough Recipe and Grilling Tips

When it’s too hot to crank your oven up for a great homemade pizza, go outside and make it on the grill! You can use the same dough to make simple grilled flatbreads, too!  

Yield: Makes 3 10-inch pizzas 
Prep time: With this recipe using Janie's Mill Italian Style Pizza Flour and yeast, you can make grilled pizza in about an hour start to finish. Or you can make the dough ahead of time and put it in the fridge for even more flavor!

Ingredients

• 6g instant dry yeast (1.5 teaspoons)
• 225g (1 cup) warm water
• 5g (1 tsp) sugar (optional)

• 12.5g (1 Tbs) olive oil, plus more for brushing the pizza crusts
• 375g (3 cups) Italian Style Pizza Flour (plus extra)
• 10g (1.25 tsp) salt
  
  TOPPINGS may include:
  
  • ¾ cup marinara sauce 
  • 6 ounces mozzarella
  • Sliced bell peppers and other seasonal vegetables
  • Fresh basil leaves

Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Pizza peel, cutting board, baking sheet, or pizza stone 

Instructions

• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the sugar and stir together. Let sit 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.

• Combine 310 grams (approx 2½ cups) of the flour and the salt. Add to the bowl with the water solution and mix until a shaggy, sticky dough forms without any dry patches. This should take less than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and gather the dough into a rough ball. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. . 

• Using a bowl scraper or your wet hand, grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, and press it down to the middle to seal. Repeat, turning the bowl 90° between each stretch, until the dough won’t elongate easily, about 8 to 12 times total. This gentle stretch-and-fold process replaces kneading. 

• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours. Dough should double in volume. 

• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently deflate it and divide it into 3 equal pieces. 

• Shape each piece into a rough ball by pulling the edges into the center. Turn the dough seam-side down, cover, and let rest for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.  NOTE: If you want to make your pizza later, you may put the balls in a re-sealable bag, and refrigerate for 1 or 2 days. You'll need to punch them down again when you are ready to roll out the pizzas.

• Prepare the grill: If using a gas grill, preheat to 350°F, then adjust some burners to medium-low and others to medium-high. If using a charcoal grill, set up two-zone grilling by banking the coals towards one side of the grill, which will create a hot and a less-hot section. Use a grill brush to remove any residue and clean the grates. To protect against sticking, use tongs to rub a wadded paper towel coated in cooking oil over the grates. 

• Prepare your materials: Next to the grill, set up a bowl of olive oil, some paper towels, and tongs or a grill brush. Have your toppings ready. Lightly dust a baker’s peel or a rimless baking sheet with flour, cornmeal or semolina.

• Stretch the dough: Dust a pizza peel or thin wooden cutting board with semolina flour or cornmeal. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can shape and top the dough on a pizza stone or on parchment paper. You’ll then invert the dough onto the grill and peel back the parchment.) Transfer one ball of dough to the peel and sprinkle the top with flour. Use your fingertips to gently depress the round, stretching and pulling the dough gently into a 10" circle. Do not shape a raised rim for grilled pizza; the entire circle should be flat. You may also use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. NOTE: Do not create a raised rim for grilled pizza because it needs an even thickness to cook evenly on a grill. You may also use a rolling pin to roll out the dough.

• To grill the pizza: Lightly brush the shaped dough with the oil then transfer to the less-hot section of the grill and bake for about 4 minutes, or until the bottom crust is golden brown. Keep the grill lid closed while baking, if possible. While the pizza cooks, you may shape the next round of dough. 

• Remove the dough from the grill using a peel or tongs and gently flip it over on the peel or a cutting board, so that the cooked side is facing up. Off the heat, add your toppings. Putting cheese on first, then sauce helps prevent a soggy crust.
  
  

• Put the pizza back on the grill, still in the less-hot section, and cook with the lid closed for an additional 4 minutes, or until the bottom crust is golden and the cheese is melted. Move your pizza towards the hotter section of the grill, for a crisper crust with more color. 

• Use a spatula or tongs to remove the pizza to a cutting board. Arrange fresh basil leaves on top, cut into wedges and serve.
  
  

• Repeat the grilling process with your second and third pizzas.

Pizza Grilling Tips

• Pizzas made on the grill are really more like topped flatbreads. They get plenty of direct heat, so the surfaces brown nicely, but not enough ambient heat, even with the lid closed, for a crumb to develop on the rim of the pizza.
• Stretch out or roll the dough very thin, with no raised edge, so that the pizzas won’t have a doughy texture. It’s much easier to work with smaller pies.
• Don’t weigh down your pizzas with ingredients, especially sauce, or they’ll be soggy and difficult to get on and off the grill. A thin layer of marinara — ¼ cup — will be plenty for a 10-inch disk.
• Instead of rolling out the dough, you may stretch it out by hand into the size and shape of the pizza you want.
• For added flavor, you can make this dough the day before and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.
• Or you may make the pizza dough rounds in advance and freeze them to use later. Simply dust a piece of parchment paper with semolina or cornmeal, place a round on the parchment, top with another piece of parchment, dust with semolina or cornmeal, and then do the same with the 3rd round. Wrap in airtight plastic or seal in a ziplock and put in the freezer.