Grilled Pizza on Gas or Charcoal: Weber’s Method

A cozy setting with pizza and Heineken beer bottle on a wooden board.

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This method comes straight from Weber’s recipe library: the Grilled Pizzas recipe by Jason Pruitt on weber.com. It is written for gas, charcoal and wood pellet grills and starts from a ball of ready-made dough, which makes it a low-effort way to get a crisp, grill-marked crust without an oven or a pizza stone.

The technique is different from baking a pizza in one go. Weber has you grill the plain crust first, on one side, then bring it off the heat, add the toppings to the cooked side and return it to the grill to melt the cheese. The crust is fully set before anything wet goes on top of it.

Ingredients

Weber lists the following, and describes the recipe as serving 4:

  • 1 pizza dough ball, about 10 oz. (roughly 285 g; metric conversion is ours)
  • Olive oil, for brushing and grilling
  • Toppings of your choice, such as pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, bell peppers and onions
  • Parchment paper, as special equipment

Timing on the recipe page is 1 hour 10 minutes of preparation (which includes the dough’s rest) and 8 to 9 minutes on the grill.

Method

  1. Leave the dough at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.
  2. Set the grill for direct medium heat, 400-450°F (about 205-230°C, our conversion). Preheat for 15 minutes, then brush the grates clean.
  3. Oil a sheet of parchment paper. Put the dough ball on it and stretch it into a round about 1/2 inch (roughly 1.3 cm) thick.
  4. Prick the dough lightly with a fork, which Weber says keeps it from puffing up too much, and brush a generous layer of oil over the top.
  5. Flip the dough oiled-side down onto the grill, then slowly peel the parchment away.
  6. Close the lid and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until grill marks show and the dough has firmed up.
  7. Move the crust to a cutting board, grill-mark side up. Lower the grill to direct medium-low heat, 350-400°F (about 175-205°C).
  8. Spread sauce over the crust and add your toppings.
  9. Return the pizza to the grill, close the lid, and cook 4-5 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the toppings are heated through.
  10. Lift it off with a wide spatula or pizza paddle and rest it for 2 minutes before slicing.

Gas, Charcoal or Pellet?

The recipe page is tagged for gas, charcoal and wood pellet grills. It gives the heat as direct medium (400-450°F) for the first side and direct medium-low (350-400°F) for the second, and it also shows a fixed-temperature variant of the same two steps: 450°F for the first side and 400°F for the second. Either way, the plan is a hotter first pass to set the crust and a gentler second pass to melt the cheese.

The Recipe Tip: Commit to the Flip

Weber’s tip is memorable: once the dough is on the grates it should not be moved until it has firmed up, so you flip it once, decisively, and leave it alone. The recipe also has you stretch the dough on oiled parchment, flip it onto the grill, and peel the paper away.

A Stone Variation From Weber

Weber’s blog also publishes a different recipe by Jamie Purviance, from Weber’s Greatest Hits, for sausage-and-pepper pizzas on a preheated pizza stone. It uses two 1-pound balls of prepared dough, each rolled to about 12 inches (30 cm) across and 1/3 inch thick, on a grill set to direct medium heat of 350-450°F. The stone is preheated for at least 15 minutes, and each pizza cooks with the lid closed for 9 to 11 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. In that recipe the sausage is cooked through in a skillet first, before it goes onto the pizza.

Food Safety Notes

  • Raw dough. The FDA says to never eat or taste raw flour, dough or batter, because processing raw grains into flour does not kill harmful bacteria. Wash hands and utensils with warm soapy water after handling it.
  • Hot food. The FDA advises keeping hot food at or above 140°F (60°C, our conversion) and not letting served food sit out longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it is above 90°F (32°C) outside.
  • Meat toppings. The FDA notes that color and texture are unreliable signs of safety and that a food thermometer is the only way to be sure meat has reached a safe temperature.

Dietary Note

Weber does not label this recipe vegetarian or vegan. Its suggested toppings include pepperoni (meat) and mozzarella (dairy), and it does not specify what is in the ready-made dough, so check the label on whichever dough, cheese and toppings you buy.

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