Have you ever had grilled pizza before? I’ve had it on my “to try” list for quite awhile now but never got around to it until now. And you know what? I’m kicking myself for waiting so dang long. The outside of the crust becomes crispy and a little charred while the inside stays chewy. It’s kind of the best ever.

We love having pizza nights at home but usually steer clear of them during the summer because I don’t want to heat up the house. This is the perfect way to keep the tradition going and it’s just as easy as the traditional version.

You’ll start by preparing your favorite dough, pizza sauce and toppings. I always double the dough and sauce recipes and freeze half. Plus, we ALWAYS have cheese. This means we can have pizza quickly on a weeknight without much effort at all. Winning.

This time around we went traditional with what we already had in the fridge, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, mozzarella and sharp cheddar but feel free to top this tasty crust with anything you like. I think I might go with buffalo chicken next time around.

How To: Grilled Pizza

1/2 recipe pizza dough (freeze other half or make 2)
Olive oil
Pizza sauce
Toppings of choice

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Meanwhile, roll out pizza dough thinly and brush one side generously with olive oil.

2. Place dough, olive oil side down, on the heated grill and close the lid. Grill for 3 minutes then gently lift the crust to check if it has begun to brown. My grill flared up so check if any areas are burning and rotate so that the crust is evenly browned. If crust hasn’t browned and gotten grill marks, continue to grill, checking every minute or two.

3. Brush uncooked side of crust with olive oil and flip. Top pizza with sauce, cheese and desired toppings quickly and close lid. Cook for 3 minutes and check crust as you did in step 2. Cook until crust is browned and crispy and the cheese has melted completely. Remove pizza from grill and allow to sit for a minute before slicing.