How to Grill Pizza plus a Vegan Grilled Pizza Recipe

Haven’t you heard? Pizza ovens are out, barbecues are in. Though this may not be a year-round trend, when you need a creative, fun, and “smokey” way to entertain your hungry guests over the holidays or weekends, consider this delicious vegan grilled pizza recipe. It is by Chef Jason of The Vegan Taste, and he includes many must have tips on how to grill pizza, too.

Vegan Grilled Pizza Notes & Tips

How It Works: The dough used in the grilled pizza is a rising dough, which helps make the crust thick and fluffy. Though you can cook the dough on the grill (fully preheat the grill, cook one side until just lightly browned, flip grilled side up to top, and then proceed with grilling the topped pizza), I prefer to cook the dough in the oven before placing it on the grill to give it better structure. Also, without that preliminary cooking, and if your grill is not fully preheated, the dough can sag into the grill a bit before it cooks into a crust.

Baking it without the ingredients also allows the top of the crust to firm up and obtain a crisp texture. If the sauce was put on first, the top of the crust would end up too moist. See the recipe below for step by step instructions for how to grill pizza.

Presentation & Serving: I prefer to let all my guests see the vegan grilled pizza whole before I cut it into slices as I think it looks very nice and appetizing that way. When you cut it, use a wet knife or a pizza roller. This keeps the ingredients from sticking to the blade and dragging the ingredients across the pizza.

Complementary Food and Drinks: Serve this grilled pizza with a side of tomato sauce or garlic oil to dip the crust of the pizza into.

Special Diet Notes: Vegan Grilled Pizza

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.

Vegan Grilled Pizza with Options

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

A couple friends of mine usually make grilled pizza when I visit and I am addicted to the crispy, smoky quality of this dish.

Author: Chef Jason Wyrick

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• ½ cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus additional for oiling the dough
• ½ cup vegan sausage (such as GimmeLean)
• 1 cup thick tomato sauce
• ¼ cup loosely packed basil leaves
• 6 to 8 black olives

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, proof the yeast in the water and sugar to ensure that it is active.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and salt. Add the yeast solution and 3 tablespoons olive oil and gently work together until dough forms.
3. Knead the dough until it is silky smooth and no longer clings to your hands. Roll it into a ball, lightly oil it, and place it in a large mixing bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
4. Break up the sausage and sauté in the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil over a medium heat until browned.
5. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
6. Punch down the risen dough and roll it into a ball. Lightly flour a flat surface. Roll the dough out into a ½-inch high disc.
7. Lay the dough in a deep dish iron skillet, circular baking pan, or pie dish. Roll the edge over to make the outer part thicker than the inner part. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Transfer the crust to a cookie sheet. Spread the tomato sauce on top, followed by the soy sausage, basil, and olives.
9. Light the grill and allow the flames to die down. Grill the pizza until the crust is crispy, but not burnt.

Notes

Oven Option: Continue baking it for another 10 minutes instead of grilling it.

Roasted Vegetable Version: Omit the vegan sausage and olives and use roasted red peppers, artichokes, and eggplant instead.

Pesto Version: Use Chef Jason's dairy-free pesto for spreading instead of tomato sauce.

Cheese Alternative: If using cheese alternative, close the lid while grilling to help the heat circulate to the top of the pizza.

Time Management: Light your grill just before you roll out the pizza, giving the flames just enough time to die down.

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More Vegan Grilled Meal Recipes

Spicy Grilled Tofu Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette (vegan, optionally gluten-free & nut-free)

California Grilled Portobello Sandwich (vegan, optionally gluten-free & allergy-friendly)

Grilled Veggie and Hummus Pita Pizza (vegan, optionally gluten-free & allergy-friendly)