Grilled Pizza Recipes are Easy as Pie

After such a long, grueling winter, you’re eager to fire up the grill, grab the tongs and start grilling everything from beef burgers and pork ribs to corn on the cob and pepperoni pizza.

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Pizza? That’s right, grilled pizza. It’s easy, family-friendly and perfect for entertaining, too, since everyone can be put to work. Someone shapes the dough circles while someone else readies the assorted toppings, then everyone oversees grilling – and eating!

SEE MORE: Four Tips on Grilling and Equipment

Start with summer staples to create these three simple pizza recipes. Turn a favorite summer sandwich – bacon, lettuce and tomato – into a Grilled BLT Pizza. Traditional Caprese salad ingredients of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella are converted into Grilled Margherita Pizza. And sweet Vidalia onions and sausage links combine with basil pesto and provolone for Grilled Sausage Pesto Pizza.

All three of these thin-crust pizzas use premade, refrigerated whole wheat dough to save time. And each is packed with health-boosting properties since they feature at least three of the five nutrient-rich foods: grains, fruits, vegetables, protein and dairy.

Don’t be intimidated by grilled pizza. Before you know it, even before that first ear of Indiana corn is ready to grill, you’ll be a pizza-grilling pro, eager to share your customized flavor combinations.

Perfect Pizzas Every Time

Premade refrigerated pizza dough is a time-saver and can be purchased in traditional or whole-grain varieties. Look for it in 1-pound bags in the refrigerated case near the deli or prepared foods section. Tubes of pizza dough can also be used, but you’ll need to use several to create that 1-pound portion.

Pizza dough will be so much easier to work with if you follow specific package directions for thawing properly before rolling out and shaping. And don’t stress about making perfect circles. Just aim for a rustic-looking 8-inch-type shape. You can make one large pizza with a 1-pound pizza dough, but it’s so much easier to handle smaller pizzas on smaller and medium-size grills.

No time to work with pizza dough? Just use precooked pizza crusts and skip the first step (grilling dough until it puffs and bubbles up.)

SEE MORE: Pizza Perfect Tips

Less is more with pizza toppings like meat, cheese and vegetables. If the ingredients are too thick, the pizza dough will burn before the toppings are warm and cooked.

The entire grilling process will go smoothly if you have the toppings and shaped pizza crusts ready to go before cranking up the grill.

Medium-low heat works best, as higher heat tends to burn the crust quickly. If your pizza takes longer than 5 to 8 minutes to cook, either the heat isn’t hot enough or you have too many toppings. Too much grill time results in tough, dried-out pizza.

SEE MORE: Guide to Grilling Vegetables

Raining outside? Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, lightly oil a baking sheet and stretch the pizza dough onto the pan. Proceed with adding the toppings according to the recipes, then bake 15 to 25 minutes until crust is browned. Watch closely and check frequently as cooking time will depend on size of pizza and toppings.