How to Make the Best Grilled Pizza

How to make the best grilled pizza! A family favorite of ours and we are sharing our go-to combos and tips to make your own grilled pizza at home.

This blog post is long overdue guys!

First things first – this is a McJordo speciality (what us Grey’s call my husband for anyone knew around here!). When we spent a few days out east for my birthday weekend, we curated a menu with all of my favorite foods. One of them being pizza.

I am beyond impressed with Jordan’s grilled pizza making skills. So much so that I asked him to give us the run down and tell us step-by-step what he does when he grills pizza. Everyone was freaking out over how crispy the crust was and the flavor combos we did. His mom is also an amazing cook and helped him whip up this meal for everyone.

We sourced majority of the ingredients on Staten Island. There are so many great Italian delis and grocery stores there and my in-law’s live on the island. They were in charge of bringing all the pizza goods and they did not disappoint.

Our favorite grilled pizza topping combinations:

• White pie with clams: fresh mozzarella cheese (fresh is soooo key!), lots of garlic, clams, oregano, olive oil. No sauce is needed on a clam pie. This is a Staten Island specialty and my personal favorite kind of pizza.
• Vodka pie: pick up a jar of your favorite vodka sauce or make some at home! This is used as the tomato sauce. Add some fresh mozzarella on top and you can also add some sausage, pepperoni, anything. If you have pesto too, that is so good drizzled on top.
• Broccoli rabe + prosciutto: another favorite white pie. I personally prefer my pizzas sans tomato sauce incase you couldn’t tell. This one had the fresh mozzarella, sautéed garlicky broccoli rabe, prosciutto and caramelized onions – SO good! (we make the caramelized onions from my cookbook, just the good stuff).
• Goat cheese + arugula: this one is a bit more plain but it is almost a salad pie of sorts. Crust, goat cheese (get the creamy one and spread it like you would cream cheese), sautéed mushrooms (I love shiitake), caramelized onions + arugula on top. Bonus points for balsamic glaze on top too. We didn’t have any here but it is the best!
• Margherita: we also did a traditional pie with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil. Not pictured because we all snacked on it as the other pizzas were grilling.

How to grill pizza:

Step one:

• Remove dough from package and put it on a large plate or bowl and dust the ball of dough with some flour (we used all-purpose). We always use fresh pizza dough instead of a ready-make-crust, but you can use that too to save time. Place a clean dish towel over it to let it rise for about 2 hours.

Step two:

• On a clean counter top, toss some flour on the working area and roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Drizzle some olive oil on top and spread it across the dough

Step three: 

• Heat the grill on medium/high between 400-500 degrees then take the oiled side of the dough and place it face down on the grill and close grill. Check on crust every minute or so because it’ll start to bubble (we pop them with a fork to keep them flat). After 2-3 minutes, drizzle some more olive oil on top and the crust should be firm and easy to flip. Gently flip the crust (I use 1 grill tong and 1 grill spatula to gently do this). Now place desired toppings on quickly and cover again to cook for 3-5 minutes (or until ready!)

Step four:

• Remove pizza from grill, slice and enjoy!

Some FAQ on grilled pizza:

Do you need a pizza stone? Nope! just make sure your grill is preheated and the dough will start cooking right away

Can I use a gas grill? Yes! any outdoor grill can work as long as you have high heat! Outdoor grills are great because you get all those grill flavors.

Does it have to be fresh dough? Thats what we prefer but you can always use a premed dough or if you have dough in the freezer just take it out in time to defrost and rise!