How To Make and Grill Pizza: Kid-Friendly Meals

Our kids love pizza. Sometimes nothing is more fun on a Friday night than letting kids have pizza and watch a movie. They think they are having a party! But when summer rolls around, my husband and I love grilling out and the kids want to be outside playing. How do you combine our fun times with pizza and our love of grilling?

Try grilled pizza.

About ten years ago, my husband and I had dinner at another couple’s house. They told us that dinner would be grilled pizza and drinks. The drinks I understood, but I was curious what the grilled pizzas were all about. Grilled pizzas are as fun to make as they are to eat.

We have continued this tradition and now enjoy making grilled pizza with our kids.We enjoy grilled pizza crust as its taste and texture differ from normal, oven baked pizza.

The only thing each family member’s pizza has in common is the starting point, a grilled pizza crust. The real fun comes with decorating the pizza. There is no need for the group to compromise on toppings when each crust is individual size. We set out multiple dishes with toppings. Once the crusts are ready, the kids enjoy adding the toppings exactly as they wish.

Remember that the crust is a canvas. The artwork is the pizza creation!

• Mozzarella cheese
• Pepperoni
• Crumbled sausage
• Mushrooms
• Sliced tomatoes
• Basil
• Sweet Bell Peppers

Depending on time I prepare pizza dough one of two ways:

• Using the bread machine on pizza dough setting
• Thawing out frozen pizza dough

I prefer frozen pizza dough and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator so it is ready for me the next afternoon.

1. Roll the dough over corn meal and sea salt. The corn meal adds texture and allows the dough to easily spread with a rolling pin. The sea salt adds flavor.
2. Once the dough is rolled out, cut it into fourths.
3. Hand pull each fourth into individual sized pizzas and set aside on a cookie sheet.

My five year old daughter rolled the dough while I prepared the mushrooms and sausage on the stove. Once the sausage and mushrooms were cooked, we added them to the topping table which we had already started. The kids chose six toppings:

• Cheese
• Pizza sauce
• Pepperoni
• Sausage
• Mushrooms
• Sweet bell peppers

1. Prepare the grill grates. Because the last item grilled on our grill was beef, using a scraper, I cleaned the grates very thoroughly and rubbed the grates with olive oil on a paper towel. You don't want the crusts to stick to the grill grates.
2. Start the grill, close the lid and let the temperature gauge reach about 400 degrees.
3. Turn the temperature down to medium allowing the grill's temperature to settle in around 350 degrees.

1. Place pizza dough directly on the grill.
2. Keep an eye on the crusts, checking every two minutes. Crusts can grill quickly depending on thickness of the crust and internal temperature of the grill!
3. Keep a fork handy to pop any bubbles that form.
4. When the crusts are crusty on the outside, they are done.
5. On average, the crusts grill about three minutes per side.

The kids were laughing while they were making their pizza. They enjoyed checking the progress on the grill as their cheese melted. They ate it quickly because, of course, it was their own creation. My husband and I ate our own creations in peace as the happy, full bellied kids were talking about how much fun they had.

Try your own grilled pizza combinations.

Have fun enjoying the great weather and a new grilled menu item!