Grilled White Pizza with Bacon and Basil

The perfect summertime pizza, this Grilled White Pizza with Bacon and Basil is outdoor perfection! Grilling the pizza is not only easy, but keeps the heat out of the kitchen!

Don’t have a grill? Try this White Pizza Recipe!

There is something special about a grilled pizza. Grilling pizza at home is the only way to try to replicate that pizzeria charred crust.

This pizza is a simple pizza. No sauce – just garlic olive oil. And lots of cheese. And my favorite ingredient? The bacon. Cooked until crispy before it’s added to the pizza, this bacon adds so much to this pizza – you don’t want to skip it. In fact, I don’t think you could ever go wrong adding bacon to your pizza!!

Top it off with a little bit of fresh basil and some red pepper flakes, and you have the perfect summer pizza. This is a white pizza recipe that you’ll want over and over again!

Ingredients

• Olive oil and garlic: If you have an olive oil that is already infused with garlic, it will totally work here. I just add some freshly minced garlic to some olive oil and let it sit for a bit.
• Pizza Dough: I like to use my homemade pizza dough, but will have to make sure the outside of the dough is well floured before stretching it out. You don’t want it to stick to the parchment paper, because that would make it hard to transfer to the grill.
• Ricotta Cheese: Ricotta is a common choice when it comes to a white pizza. It is creamy and adds a special touch to this pizza.
• Mozzarella Cheese: I like to make this with fresh mozzarella, but shredded mozzarella works, too.
• Bacon: You want cooked and crumbled bacon. You don’t need a lot for one pizza – I usually go with 2 slices of regular bacon.
• Basil: You will want fresh basil for this recipe. I put some on before cooking the pizza, and then add a little bit of fresh before serving.
• Red Pepper Flakes: This is an optional ingredient, but I love the little bit of heat that it brings.

How to Make Grilled White Pizza

STEP 1: You want to make the garlic olive oil first, so that the garlic has time to infuse in the oil. Simply mix your minced garlic in the olive oil. You can also grate the garlic if you don’t want the garlic chunks.

STEP 2: Stretch your pizza dough to a large circle. I like to do this on parchment paper, but you want to make sure it is well floured so that your dough doesn’t stick to the parchment paper.

STEP 3: Transfer your dough to a hot grill. I think this is easiest to do this by taking the pizza on the parchment, then flipping it over onto the grill, with the parchment side up. Then just peel off the parchment paper. Or if desired, you can just place the dough on the grill by hand – just be careful to not burn yourself.

STEP 4: Let the pizza cook until the bottom of the dough is browned and charred. This should take about 3-5 minutes. I like to rotate my dough a time or two, just in case there are any hot spots. Use a pizza peel or a pair of tongs to remove the crust from the grill, turning the cooked side up.

STEP 5: Spread the garlic olive oil on the dough, then top with the ricotta, mozzarella, bacon, some basil, and red pepper flakes.

STEP 6: Transfer the pizza back to the grill and cook again until the bottom is browned and the cheese is melted.

Tips and Tricks

My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready, because this pizza cooks fast. When it’s time to top the pizza, you need to be able to work quickly.

My fresh mozzarella comes in thick slices, so I like to tear it up into smaller pieces to make sure the whole pizza is covered.

I like to add half of the basil before cooking the pizza, and then some fresh basil

More Pizza Recipes

Hawaiian Pizza
Caprese Pizza
BBQ Chicken Pizza

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Grilled White Pizza with Bacon and Basil

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Author: Deborah Harroun

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

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The perfect summertime pizza, this Grilled White Pizza with Bacon and Basil is outdoor perfection! Grilling the pizza is not only easy, but keeps the heat out of the kitchen!

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 lb pizza dough*
• ▢ 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• ▢ 4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
• ▢ 2 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
• ▢ handful of fresh basil leaves torn
• ▢ Red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine the olive oil and the garlic. Let it sit until needed.
  1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 cloves garlic
• Heat a grill to medium heat. (All grills cook a little differently. You’ll want the temperature around 400ºF.)
• Stretch or roll the pizza dough to a large circle. You want to make sure the dough is not sticky so that it is easy to transfer to the grill. (See my tips in the notes section below.)
  1 lb pizza dough*
• Once the grill is hot, transfer the dough to the hot grill. Let it cook until the bottom is browned and lightly charred. This will take about 3-5 minutes. I like to rotate mine halfway through the cook time in case there are any hot spots.
• Use a pizza peel to remove the dough from the grill and flip it over so the raw side is down and the cooked side is up.
• On the cooked side, spread the garlic olive oil evenly. Top with the ricotta cheese, dropping in dollops and spreading as evenly as possible.
  1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• Add the mozzarella to the pizza (I like to take the slices and tear them into smaller pieces) along with the bacon. Sprinkle with basil and red pepper flakes.
  4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, 2 slices bacon, handful of fresh basil leaves, Red pepper flakes
• Slide the pizza back onto the grill and continue to cook with the lid closed, until the bottom is browned and the cheese is melted, about 4-5 more minutes.
• Remove the pizza from the grill and let it sit for a minute or two. Top with more basil, if desired, and serve.

Recipe Notes:

*I usually call for 1 pound of pizza dough per pizza, but personally, I like less than that. I will usually use about 12 oz of dough per pizza.

If you are using my homemade pizza dough recipe, the dough will be too sticky as is to transfer to the grill. I usually use parchment paper, but don’t want to use that in the grill where it will catch on fire! So I will either add a little bit of extra flour to the dough, or just make sure the outside of the dough is floured well so that it doesn’t stick.

I still find that it is easiest to roll the dough out on parchment paper. And then to transfer the dough to the grill, you can carefully flip the dough over onto the grill, so that the parchment is on top of the dough, then carefully pull away and discard the parchment.

Use a pizza peel or tongs to remove the half-cooked dough from the grill. A pizza peel is the easiest way to remove the finished pizza from the grill.

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 487kcal (24%), Carbohydrates: 56g (19%), Protein: 20g (40%), Fat: 21g (32%), Saturated Fat: 8g (50%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 38mg (13%), Sodium: 749mg (33%), Potassium: 205mg (6%), Fiber: 4g (17%), Sugar: 2g (2%)

Keywords: grilled white pizza