You guys, if you have never had grilled pizza, you are seriously missing out! This is one of my girls’ favorite summer treats. It’s just so much fun to eat a gooey, cheesy pizza with grill marks on the crust. And, I’m always up for an excuse to keep the oven off in the summertime!

But, here’s the thing — I don’t grill. I’ve never been comfortable around the gas grill, which means grilling night (aka every hot, summer night) is the hubby’s night to cook! It works out well for me, but it gets a little exhausting for him, so we decided to teach the teen how to use the grill.

I’m all about life skills for teens — things that will serve them well as an adult — that also allow her to contribute to the family while she’s still here. Grilling seemed to fit the bill, so we used my National Dairy Month kit from Indiana Family of Farmers to buy all our favorite pizza supplies.

The hubby taught her how to carefully turn on the propane, start burners, and ignite the flame. He showed her how to clean and scrape the grate, then how to carefully turn off the grill and close the gas when she was finished. That’s when we stepped back and watched her do it all again by herself.

Once she was comfortable with the process, we turned dinner over to her. She grilled the crusts, helped her sisters create their pizzas, then returned the pizzas to the grill until the cheese was just the way we like it.

Grilled Pizza

• Pizza Crust
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzarella, Provolone or blended cheese
• Optional Toppings: meats, additional cheeses, green peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc

The process is surprisingly simple. You’ll need a pizza crust—any pizza crust. We have grilled with premade, from scratch and frozen crusts. If you are using a dough, put it on a foil pizza pan. Otherwise, you can start the crust directly on the grill.

Grill for 5-10 minutes, then remove the crust. Turn it over (a tricky process, if you’re cooking dough on a pizza pan but it works!), add sauce, seasoning, your favorite toppings & cheese — lots of cheese! (You can also try barbecue sauce in place of pizza sauce with grilled chicken and cheddar cheese.)

Return the pizza to the grill and cook until the toppings are warm & cheese is melted.

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I am participating in this series as a Table Talk blogger for Indiana Family of Farmers. They sent a bag of goodies last month for me to enjoy for National Dairy Month, but all opinions, recipes, and photos are 100% mine.

I just couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate a summer of dairy than this cheesy grilled treat. For more tips and recipes that feature cheese, visit I Love Cheese!


A version of this recipe originally appeared on 8/20/2010.