Pizza Night
On May 31, 2024 (Updated September 24, 2024)
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When you’re feeding a hungry crowd with a lot of preferences, you can’t go wrong with pizza night. Savory, spicy, sweet, meaty, you can make personalized pies for everyone all in one oven.
Pizza Night
Pizza is such a great party food because it’s so versatile. It’s basically an entire cuisine all on it’s own. Everyone can customize their pies with whatever they enjoy most. If you love BBQ chicken pizza but don’t like BBQ sauce (which, why?), no problem. You can use a tomato sauce, white sauce, or skip it altogether. The topping combos are endless, too. Want a dessert pizza instead of a savory pie? You can easily make it happen with a pizza night. You can even get crazy and add sweet elements like pineapple, pears, honey, or anything else you love for a delicious pizza that’s totally unique.
Pizza Night Topping Combos
Creativity and customization, that’s what making your own pizza at home is all about. The kind of pizzas you can devour a limited only to your imagination. Here are a few of my favorite ideas to help get you started.
Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza
Smoky chicken, spicy jalapeños, crisp onions, and 3 melty cheeses on a crispy crust slathered in tangy BBQ sauce, my Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza has something for everyone.
Margherita Pizza
Rich, tangy tomato sauce with gooey mozzarella cheese and a little sweet basil all on a soft yet crispy crust, my Margherita Pizza is a classic with a little extra touch.
Pepperoni Pizza with Hot Honey
Spicy pepperoni and melty mozzarella with rich sauce on a perfectly crispy crust, then topped with hot honey, this Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza is a classic with a bang.
Thai Grilled Chicken Pizza
A savory combination of bright Thai flavors on a crisp, thin pizza crust, my Thai Grilled Chicken Pizza a healthy and easy pizza when you want something on the lite side that still packs a punch of flavor.
Dutch Oven Pizza with Pear, Brie, and Prosciutto
Pear, brie, prosciutto, and arugula give this deep dish pizza a fancy restaurant feel you can cook in your dutch oven, or use the same toppings in your pizza oven.
Wood Fired Red Pesto and Grilled Chicken Pizza
Crispy, caramelized crust topped with mozzarella cheese, red pest sauce, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, and basil, this wood fired pizza is simple, yet satisfying.
Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza
Homemade crust is piled high with cheese, grilled chicken, BBQ sauce, red onion, and fresh cilantro, my Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza is both delicious and filling.
Homemade Doughs for Pizza Night
I’ve found that making your own dough is super rewarding, and has some taste benefits as well. You get to know exactly what’s going into your dough. You also get some awesome hydration you’re just not going to get with store-bought dough. You’ll get those gorgeous bubbles and some crispy, delicious charred leopard spotting everyone will rave about. I’ve included a couple different dough recipes so you can try different style.
Neapolitan Style Pizza Dough
If you want a soft and chewy pizza crust with just the right amount of crisp and char, made with 4 simple ingredients, then you have to try my Neapolitan Pizza Dough. It’s the perfect base for everyone to create their own favorites. For the best results, allow 24-72 hours for your dough to ferment.
Homemade Grilled Pizza Dough
If you’ve been on the hunt for the best grilled pizza dough, look no further. My Grilled Pizza Dough is the most delicious dough to use with all your grilled pizza recipes.
The Best Sauces for Pizza Night
The unsung hero of any delicious pizza is the sauce. If you want to make a truly awesome pizza, then you have to start with a great sauce. Whether you want a more traditional tomato sauce or a sweet and tangy BBQ base, quality is key. Here are few sauce recipes to kickstart your pizza flavor.
4 Ingredient Pizza Sauce
Rich, delicious homemade pizza sauce is easy with my 4 Ingredient Pizza Sauce. With this flavorful sauce, you’ll please even the pickiest pizza eaters.
Apple Jalapeño BBQ Sauce
If you like some kick, then this amazing Apple Jalapeño BBQ sauce is sure to please. It’s the perfect blend of savory and sweet with a kiss of heat for all your BBQ pizzas.
Everything BBQ Sauce
Hey Grill Hey Everything BBQ Sauce combines a sticky sweet tomato base with molasses and brown sugar to pair with anything on the grill, and pizza is no exception. If you like your BBQ pizzas a little more mellow, then this is the move.
Pizza Night Sides
Okay, now that you’ve picked out your perfect topping and sauce combinations, let’s talk about the rest of your meal. I’ve included a few of my favorite pizza friendly recipes to take your pizza party from awesome to legendary.
Pizzeria Style Cheesy Bread
Sure, you can have bland, boring breadsticks with your pizza. Or… you can have rich, creamy, ooey-gooey, cheesy, garlic bread with my Pizzeria Style Cheesy Bread. The choice is yours.
Grilled Watermelon Pizza with Honey and Lime
This Grilled Watermelon “Pizza” is ready in minutes, and perfect for your next pizza party. Topped with honey, fresh lime, pickled red onions, queso fresco, and a sprinkle of cilantro, this is a unique pizza you won’t soon forget.
I’m all about helping you make better BBQ, but I’m not just about BBQ. If you’re ready for Hey Grill Hey be your one-stop shop for all things pizza, then check out the Hey Grill Hey app. There are dozens of sauce recipes for you to try, and you can even purchase several of them in the Hey Grill Hey store if you want to have them on hand when that pizza craving strikes.
Ways to Make Pizza for Pizza Night
One great thing about pizza is if you can imagine a topping combination, then you can prepare it in a way you love. I’ve got recipes for pizza ovens, as well as plenty of pies you can make right on your grill. There are a lot of tools available, like pizza stones, which help make pizzeria level pizzas with any method. If you aren’t ready to invest in a dedicated pizza oven, then you can bake them right in your kitchen oven.
Pizza Oven
The great thing about using a pizza oven is because of the high heat, you’re able to bake your pizzas in just a few minutes. Once it’s up to the desired temperature of 600-650 degrees, you can bake an entire pizza in 5-8 minutes. You want to rotate your pizzas every 1-2 minutes with this method because the heat source is near the back of the oven. This will ensure you you get a crispy exterior crust, melty cheese, as well as some awesome char spots all the way around. If you’re regularly hosting pizza parties, then a pizza oven is worth the investment.
Grill
Making pizza on the grill is also a great method. You don’t have to rotate when making pizzas this way, but there are still a couple important steps. When grilling a pie, you’ll want to grill the dough alone with your grill lid open for 2-3 minutes, until the bottom is a golden brown. You’l know it’s time when you start to see a little bubbling on top. Then, simply flip it and place over indirect heat, add your sauce and toppings, and grill for 4-5 more minutes with your lid closed.
Pizza Stone
If you’re not quite ready to invest in a full-blown pizza oven, then you can get a lot of the same effects by using a pizza stone. These awesome tool heats evenly over its surface, allowing for a nice, even bake across your entire pizza. It also allows you to get a lot closer to that coveted crispy exterior on your crust you get from a pizza oven. This is a lot more cost effective, usually around $25-50, and you’ll be able to get a pretty awesome result at a fraction of the cost.
Conventional Oven
You can also make any one of these delicious recipes in a conventional oven. Just keep in mind your standard kitchen oven won’t be able to get to the high temperatures of a pizza oven, so you’ll be cooking your pizzas for 10-15 minutes at 375-440 degrees F. It will take just a little longer than a dedicated pizza oven, but you’ll still turn out amazing pies everyone will gladly sink their teeth into.
Make Every Night Pizza Night
Pizza parties are one of my favorite ways to get together, because everyone can have exactly what they want. People might be hesitant to make requests when you invite them over for dinner, With a pizza party, you can please the preferences of even the pickiest eaters, without any extra work. This makes pizza parties ideal for kids birthdays. And let’s be honest here, adults love pizza parties, too. They’re great for neighborhood and family gatherings, or any special occasion where you’ve got a large crowd with varied tastebuds.
You don’t need an excuse to have a pizza party. However, I’ve got you covered with some top tier reasons to turn your backyard into a pizzeria. National Pizza Day is February 9th, prefect to warm up a chilly winter night. National Pizza Day is the third Thursday each May, and I can’t think of a better way to kick off summer. Heck, National Pie Day is March 14th. I know we’re stretching a bit with this one, but you know what else we’re stretching? That bubbly, melty, ooey-gooey cheese from the slice to our mouth during an epic cheese pull.
Take Pizza Night to the Next Level
Now that your mind is racing with all the different kinds of pizza you’ll be making at your next big backyard gathering, let’s take it up a notch. Head on over to The Grill Squad where we’ve got a Pitmaster Class on all things pizza hosted by former pizza joint owner, pizza pro, and walking pizza encyclopedia, Papa Jack Carlisle. Jack joins Susie and teaches you everything you could ever want to know about making pizzeria worthy pies right in your own backyard.
Hey Grill Hey is all about helping you make better food to feed the people you love. Hopefully this gives you plenty of ideas to use next time you host a pizza night, ensuring everyone has a great time and gets exactly the pie they want. Make sure you’re following us on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, because you never know when a new pizza recipe or killer sauce will pop up.
