The Ultimate Backyard Dinner Party: Pizza on the Grill
Sponsored by Finish® Quantum®
Take your next summer backyard party up a notch by whipping up individual-sized pizzas on the grill. Pies on the grill make for a fun and delicious way to take it outside, and by offering up a variety of toppings, everyone gets to "order" their favorite.
Check out helpful tips for grilling pizza, then get cooking with our party and recipe ideas below. No fancy backyard pizza oven required!
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Preparing the Basics: Pizza Dough and Sauces
Make the pizza dough and pizza sauce the day before, and be sure to make each pie a single-serving size--they're easier to work with on the grill, and fun to personalize.
We've gathered some of our most popular pizza crust and pizza sauce recipes here:
Toppings for Everyone
Chop and slice a handful of the standard crowd-pleasing toppings like mushrooms, bell peppers, black olives, pepperoni, and sausage, or check out some of these pizza recipes for some ingredient combo inspiration:
- Pesto makes a great base sauce for Pesto Pizza.
- Shrimp Pizza is a summertime favorite.
- You can't go wrong with a classic Four Cheese Margherita Pizza.
- Greek Pizza features feta cheese, tomatoes, and spinach.
- Spice things up with D's Taco Pizza, which is everything you love in a taco, but on a pizza.
- Hot sauce, blue cheese dressing, and chicken top this Buffalo-Style Chicken pizza.
Tips for Setting Up a Grilled Pizza Party
Things move fast once you start grilling--the pizza dough is ready in just a few minutes--so before you start cooking, make sure your pizza station is prepped.
- Make sure you have a surface near the BBQ where you can place pre-made pizza dough crusts. Grill two to four at a time, depending on how large your grill is.
- Set up a DIY toppings bar. Arrange all your toppings in individual bowls, then have more small empty bowls that guests can use to put their chosen toppings in. (They will be topping their crusts while on the grill, so they'll need something that's easy to access when it's their turn.)
- Make sure dinner plates are big enough to handle the pizzas. If you have a big enough cutting board, you can slice the pies before you serve 'em up.
Watch this video for Pizza on the Grill to see how to make herbed pizza crust and how to shape and grill it.
If you don't want to make your own pizza dough, these grilled pizza recipes all start with ready-made refrigerated pizza dough to speed things up:
- Barbeque Chicken Grilled Pizza: topped with chopped chicken, BBQ sauce, tomatoes, and cheese
- Crispy Grilled Pizza Margarita: topped with tomatoes, basil, and two kinds of cheese
- Individual Grilled Veggie Pizzas: topped with pesto and grilled vegetables.
- Grilled Chicken Alfredo Pizza: topped with jarred Alfredo sauce, ground chicken, and cheese.
Don't Forget Dessert
Stay in outdoor cooking mode for some post-pizza, backyard eats that'll satisfy your sweet tooth:
More recipes to try:
- Toasty Campfire Cookies
- Campfire Banana Splits
- Get more recipes and ideas for grilled desserts.
Find more ideas and inspiration in our collection of pizza recipes.
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