Updated: 3/3/23
Have you ever wondered if cooking pizza on a Blackstone griddle was possible? As it turns out, it is, and it’s delicious!
Making Blackstone pizza on a Blackstone griddle is as easy as tossing a frozen one in the oven, but it offers so much more control and enjoyment.
Whether you want to make a pizza from scratch, throw together prepared ingredients, or use a store-bought frozen pizza, you can do it all on a griddle.
Here are some helpful tips to start you off. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never used a griddle before or just never cooked pizza on one; these tips are sure to help.
Blackstone Pizza Ovens
This guide will teach you how to make delicious fresh or frozen pizzas on your Blackstone griddle however you should know that Blackstone now offers 2 pizza oven options.
The first pizza oven released was the Blackstone Pizza Oven Conversion Kit. This is a handy device that converts any 22-inch Blackstone griddle into a pizza oven. Read our review of the Blackstone Pizza Oven Conversion kit for more details!
The second pizza oven recently released in 2023 is their Pizza Oven with Cart. Unlike the conversion kit, this is a stand-alone pizza oven that does not require you to have an existing Blackstone griddle. It’s pricey but may be a good option if you plan on cooking lots of pizza and want a dedicated pizza oven.
Griddle Pizza Helpful Tips
The essential thing to remember when making a pizza – fresh or frozen – on a griddle is that everything is up to preference. As long as the ingredients are cooked and not burning, you can use any method you choose to make your pizza.
Here are some simple tips that may help first-time pizza griddlers.
- Use oil to prevent the dough from sticking to the griddle
- Keep the temperature low to prevent burning
- Cook ingredients separately
- Cover the pizza and use steam to melt the cheese
- Keep an eye on the underside of the dough
- The more toppings you have, the more you will need to cook things separately
- If you want to reduce total cooking time, use less topping and slice ingredients thinner
- Don’t forget the seasoning
Fresh Dough
The first step to making pizza on a Blackstone griddle is selecting your dough. You can make your dough from scratch if you want; it’s a good option if you have any dietary restrictions. Using ready-made pizza bases is also an option. They can be fresh or frozen, both work well, but you will need to adjust the cooking times.
Some other popular options include pita, naan, and tortilla. Remember, cooking time will vary depending on your base and how crisp you’d like it. Most pizza dough and similar bread options will burn quickly if left unattended or cooked at too high a temperature.
Preheat the griddle and put down some oil to start cooking the dough. Most people prefer to use olive oil. You can even sprinkle some seasoning in, like garlic powder and oregano. Place your chosen dough down and keep the heat low. Check the bottom to make sure it isn’t cooking too fast.
If your pizza dough is cooking too fast, turn the burners off on one side and move the dough over. Don’t forget to rotate to make sure it cooks evenly.
Once one side is cooked to your liking, flip the dough over to cook the other. It’s time to move on to the sauce.
All About the Sauce
Homemade and store-bought sauces work equally well. You can put the sauce on as is, heat it in the microwave beforehand, or put some in a griddle-safe tray to heat up on the griddle.
If you are using something thin like a tortilla, you probably won’t need to heat the sauce beforehand. Spread the sauce over the dough. You can use as much or as little as you like, but using less will help the pizza cook better. After the sauce, it’s all about toppings.
Toppings Galore
Before your Blackstone pizza can reach completion, you need to add toppings. This step varies wildly depending on what you choose to use.
If you need to cook meat or vegetable toppings, throw them on the griddle before cooking the dough since it will cook quickly and requires a lower temperature.
Sauté the toppings like normal and set them aside if they’re done cooking. Once the sauce is on the dough, you can add a little cheese. Toss on any toppings at this point before adding the rest of the cheese to sandwich them in.
This is an important step as it not only holds the toppings on but puts them closer to the heat source. Cheese doesn’t take much to melt and therefore doesn’t need to be as close to the griddle.
You can leave your pizza as is and wait for it to be done cooking, or you can cover it. Covering the pizza will hold the steam in, helping to melt the cheese. The trick here is to not steam the pizza if it is already too wet and to steam it more if it is dry.
If you want a crispy crust, don’t leave it covered for too long or don’t cover it at all.
Alternatively, if you don’t have a lid or don’t want to steam the pizza, you can put the cheese directly on the griddle. Leave it long enough to melt, and then deposit it on the pizza.
Voila, your Blackstone griddle pizza is done!
Frozen Pizza on a Blackstone Griddle
Fresh pizza is fantastic, but many people don’t have time to make and prepare the ingredients. You may be wondering, can you cook a frozen pizza on a Blackstone griddle? Well, the answer is yes, you can. Just follow these simple steps to learn how to cook any frozen pizza on a griddle.
First, pick your pizza. You can use any frozen pizza, but keep in mind that thin-crust pizza will cook much faster. The more ingredients are piled on, the longer it will take the pizza to cook through, and the crisper the bottom will end up.
With your pizza selected, you’re ready to go—Preheat the griddle to low and slap the pizza on. Make sure to remove the packaging and cardboard first.
For the first five minutes or so, leave the pizza as is. You want it to thaw and let most of the moisture escape before you cover it so that you don’t end up with a soggy pizza.
After five minutes, check the bottom and cover it. Depending on the thickness of the pizza, you may need to leave it for another five to ten minutes while covered. Check it occasionally to make sure the bottom isn’t overcooking.
If the ingredients aren’t cooked yet, but the bottom is browning, slide the pizza over to the side of the griddle where the burners are off, but leave it covered.
You may get the top to brown by cooking the pizza covered, but if you want to keep the bottom soft, you’ll need to use a different method. Using a blowtorch to melt the cheese and brown the toppings is an excellent way to avoid overcooking the bottom.
If you are worried about the pizza sticking, you can put down some oil before you start cooking, but it usually isn’t necessary.
Additional Flat Top Grill Pizza Tools
If plain old griddle pizza isn’t good enough for you, here are a couple of ways you can spice up the experience with different tools and accessories.
Pizza Stone
You may never have considered this, but you can use a pizza stone on a griddle. By combining the griddle with a pizza stone and lid, you can almost get that oven-baked taste.
Pizza stones help spread the heat and ensure the pizza cooks more evenly. They are a good option if you find the pizza is cooking unevenly on the griddle or you keep forgetting to turn it.
Blowtorch
Some people like to use a blowtorch to give the pizza an extra golden glow on top. This is a very useful option if you find the bottom of the pizza is cooking too fast. It is also suitable for situations like camping where you may not have a lid or cover for the pizza.
It can help speed up the cooking process too. If all you want on your pizza is cheese, you can put the sauce and cheese on simultaneously and use the blowtorch to melt and warm them up. The cooking time is reduced to only the amount of time it takes the crust to cook.
Lid/Cover
While it’s not strictly needed to cook a pizza on a griddle, a lid or cover can go a long way to ensuring a more even finish and better-cooked toppings. Covers can help reduce cooking time by keeping the heat in and cooking the top of the pizza.
Depending on your chosen toppings, using a lid can cut out the need to precook the toppings on the griddle. It can also keep pizzas from drying out too much and allow you to cook in inclement weather.
Blackstone Pizza Final Thoughts
Pizza is a wonderfully versatile food, not just because anything can be a topping, but because any part can be customized, including how it’s cooked.
Health restrictions, dietary restrictions, preferences, and mood are all easy to account for when making Blackstone pizza, especially on a Blackstone griddle.
Just remember you may need to cook the ingredients separately, use oil to prevent the dough from sticking, and keep the temperature low. Other than that, you’re free to mix it up and get creative.
Good luck and have fun!
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