Grilled Mini Pizzas

The perfect appetizer for your next barbeque party, these grilled mini pizzas taste like they’ve been cooked in a brick oven.

May 31, 2022

It’s official, grilling season is underway and I have a great appetizer recipe to share – grilled mini pizzas. If you love the taste and texture of a brick oven-cooked pizza, outdoor grilling is a great way to achieve those same characteristics.

This appetizer is perfect for a grilling party as it involves guest participation. All you need to do is provide the ingredients and your guests will do the rest. The healthy spin on this recipe is providing nothing but vegetable toppings for pizza making.

Frozen dough dinner rolls make the perfect mini crust. Just give them a 2-to-3-hour thaw on the kitchen counter, covered of course. If your grocery store carries whole-wheat frozen dough dinner rolls, give them a try as they provide additional fiber.

The trickiest part of this recipe is getting the temperature of the outdoor grill just right. After a couple of testing flops, I learned the ideal temperature for cooking these thin, mini pizzas was between 375 and 400 degrees. My gas grill has an exterior thermometer, which made achieving that temperature range easy. If your grill doesn’t have an exterior thermometer, set the temperature knobs to medium.

Let me explain the rest of this recipe story in pictures.

To your health,

Darlene

These frozen dough dinner rolls made the perfect size mini pizzas. Per the package information, each dough ball weighed 38 grams, that’s just over one ounce.

Here are the frozen dough balls just out of the freezer.

These dough balls had a 2 1/2-hour thaw on the kitchen counter. Be sure to cover them with plastic wrap while thawing.

Dust your sheet pan with cornmeal so the pizzas don’t stick.

Use your fingers to work each dough ball into a 3-inch round disc.

Prep your veggie toppings - the possibilities are endless!

Let your guests create their personal favorites.

Grill temperature should range between 375 and 400 degrees.

Place the sheet pan directly on the grill grate.

GRILLED MINI PIZZAS

Yield: 8 servings

Serving Size: 1 mini pizza

Prep: 15 minutes

Ready: 2 hours and 25 minutes (includes dough rising time)

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil cooking spray
8 (about 1 ounce each) frozen dough dinner rolls
Variety of vegetable toppings: green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms, onion, spinach, tomato, artichoke hearts, olives
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 cup (about 4 ounces) grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place frozen dough balls evenly spaced on pan and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.
Prepare vegetable toppings as desired (slicing, chopping, dicing, etc.) and place in individual bowls.
To assemble a mini pizza, work thawed dough ball into a three-inch round disc. Place on sheet pan dusted with cornmeal. Top dough with 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 2 tablespoons grated cheese, and desired vegetable toppings. Repeat process to make 8 mini pizzas.
Heat gas grill to a temperature ranging between 375 and 400 degrees. Place sheet pan with pizzas directly on grill grate. Close lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.

Nutrition information is for one grilled mini pizza with 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese, 1 tablespoon diced green pepper, and 1 tablespoon sliced red onion.

Nutrition Information per Serving

160 Calories, 5 g Total fat, 1 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 9 mg Cholesterol, 269 mg Sodium, 24 g Total carbohydrate, 2 g Dietary fiber, 4 g Total sugars, 2 g Added sugars, 6 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 118 mg (10%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 69 mg (2%) Potassium