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Smoked Pizza might be the best thing we have ever pulled off the pellet grill, a golden, crispy crust with real wood fired flavor, a quick homemade garlic tomato sauce, and three kinds of melted cheese in every single slice, and the girls declared it better than delivery before the first piece even hit a plate last weekend. If you love our sheet pan pizza, this is its smoky backyard cousin.
The smoker streak that started with our smoked mac and cheese was never going to end without a pizza night.
Smoked Pizza Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 35 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 55 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 slices (one 12 inch pizza)
- ⚡ Calories: 320kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Rich and cheesy with garlicky tomato sauce and a gentle kiss of smoke
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, right on par with our margherita pizza
Quick Answer
Put a pizza stone in the smoker and heat both to 500 degrees F. While it heats, simmer a quick garlic tomato sauce on the stove and let it cool. Stretch room temperature pizza dough into a 10 to 12 inch round on a semolina dusted peel, top it with sauce, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan, and spoonfuls of ricotta, then slide it onto the hot stone. Smoke the pizza for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- The pizza stone does the heavy lifting. A stone that preheats with the smoker to 500 degrees stores a huge amount of heat, so the bottom of the crust starts crisping the second the dough lands instead of steaming on cold grates.
- High heat plus real smoke equals wood fired flavor. At 500 degrees the pizza cooks fast while the pellets add a gentle layer of smoke, which is the closest a backyard cook gets to a wood fired pizzeria oven.
- The sauce cools before it goes on. Room temperature sauce spreads thin and stays put, while warm sauce soaks into the dough and steams the crust from the top down, which is where soggy centers come from.
- Each of the three cheeses has a job. Mozzarella brings the melt and the cheese pull, shredded Parmesan brings salt and browning, and the ricotta bakes into creamy little pockets that make every slice feel loaded.
- Semolina flour works like ball bearings. A generous dusting on the peel lets the topped pizza slide onto the stone in one clean move, and the little granules toast into a subtle crunch on the bottom of the crust.
- Lemon zest wakes the sauce up. Two teaspoons of zest brighten all that rich tomato and garlic, so the sauce can stand up to a full pound and a half of cheese without tasting heavy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The crust is the whole show, golden and crispy on the bottom, chewy at the edge, with wood fired flavor you cannot fake in a kitchen oven.
- It puts the smoker on double duty, pizza night one day and our smoked spatchcock chicken the next, all on the same bag of pellets.
- The girls each claim their own slices before it is even cut, because the ricotta pockets make some pieces extra creamy and everybody has a favorite corner.
Key Ingredients
A short list of pizza staples, plus a from scratch tomato sauce that comes together in one pan while the smoker heats.
- Pizza Dough: One store bought ball keeps this easy, just let it come fully to room temperature so it stretches instead of snapping back. Homemade dough works exactly the same way.
- The Three Cheeses: Shredded mozzarella for the melt and the pull, shredded Parmesan for salt and golden brown edges, and ricotta spooned on in little clouds that bake up creamy.
- Semolina Flour: The secret to launching the pizza off the peel in one smooth move, and it toasts into a light crunch on the bottom of the crust.
- The Sauce: Olive oil, plenty of garlic, tomato paste, basil, red pepper flakes, and crushed tomatoes, the same flavor family as our easy homemade pizza sauce with a bright twist.
- Lemon Zest: The sleeper ingredient. Two teaspoons stirred into the sauce keep all that cheese and tomato tasting bright instead of heavy.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Once the stone is hot, the smoker will handle just about any pizza you point it at.
- Margherita style: Swap the three cheeses for fresh mozzarella and finish with basil leaves, like our margherita pizza with a smoky twist.
- Buffalo chicken: Trade the tomato sauce for buffalo sauce and shredded chicken, the same combo that makes our buffalo chicken pizza disappear.
- Meatball lover: Add sliced homemade meatballs on top before it goes in, borrowed straight from our meatball pizza.
- Sauce swap: Use our oven roasted tomato sauce when summer tomatoes are piling up on the counter.
- Spicy honey: Add extra red pepper flakes to the sauce and drizzle the finished pizza with hot honey while it is still bubbling.
- Thick and cheesy mood: When you want deep dish instead of crispy and thin, our slow cooker deep dish pizza has you covered without firing up the smoker at all.
How to Make Smoked Pizza
- Make the sauce first. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, minced basil, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes, and stir for 45 seconds until it smells amazing. Add the crushed tomatoes, lemon zest, salt, and pepper, simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes, then take it off the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan and fresh basil. Let it cool to room temperature.
- Put the pizza stone in the smoker, close the lid, and heat the smoker and stone to 500 degrees F. While it heats, let the dough finish coming to room temperature, it should look relaxed and puffy, not tight.
- Press the middle of the dough with your fingertips, leaving a 1 inch edge for the crust, then gently stretch and turn it into a round about 10 to 12 inches wide. Take your time so it does not tear.
- Dust the peel generously with semolina and lay the dough on top. Spread about 1/4 cup of sauce with the back of a spoon, leaving the edge bare, then sprinkle on the mozzarella and Parmesan and dot the whole pizza with spoonfuls of ricotta. Give the peel a gentle shake, if the pizza does not slide, lift an edge and add more semolina.
- Slide the pizza onto the hot stone with one quick forward push and pull back of the peel. Close the lid and leave it alone for 15 minutes, no peeking.
- Check the pizza at 15 minutes. It is done when the crust is golden brown, the cheese is melted and spotty, and the bottom is fully cooked, 15 to 20 minutes total. Use the peel to move it to a cutting board, rest a few minutes, then slice.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Room temperature dough is the whole battle. Give it 30 to 60 minutes on the counter. Cold dough fights back, snaps into a shrunken circle, and tears when you force it.
- Let the stone preheat completely. Bring the smoker and stone to 500 degrees together and give it a full 30 minutes. A half heated stone means a pale, floppy bottom.
- Do the shake test before you launch. If the topped pizza does not slide freely on the peel, it will not slide onto the stone. Lift the edge and feed more semolina underneath.
- Cool the sauce all the way. Warm sauce soaks in and steams the dough, and it makes the launch stickier too.
- Go lighter on sauce than feels right. A quarter cup covers a 12 inch pizza. More than that is the number one cause of a soggy middle.
- Keep the lid closed for the first 15 minutes. Every peek dumps heat off the stone and stretches the cook time.
- Leftover sauce is a bonus recipe. You will have about 2 1/2 cups left, spread it on our garlic cheese bread, freeze it flat, or save it for round two this weekend.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Pizza night begs for a crisp salad on the side. We go back and forth between our romaine wedge salad and a big bowl of greens tossed with homemade Caesar salad dressing, something cold and crunchy against all that hot cheese.
If it is a game day or a backyard crowd, round out the spread with crispy air fryer chicken wings and garlic Parmesan grilled potato wedges, since the grill is already doing the work anyway.
Do not sleep on the leftover sauce as a dip for the crusts, and a little bowl of our creamy garlic dressing on the table disappears just as fast.
However you build the table, serve this one hot. The cheese pull is at full power in the first ten minutes, and that first stretchy, smoky slice is the moment everybody came for.
Smoked Pizza FAQs
Cook smoked pizza at 500 degrees F on a preheated pizza stone. High heat is what crisps the bottom and melts the cheese before the crust dries out, so let the smoker and stone come all the way up to temperature before the pizza goes in. At 500 degrees it takes 15 to 20 minutes.
A pizza stone or baking steel makes the biggest difference in this recipe because it stores heat and crisps the bottom of the crust. If you do not have one, a large cast iron skillet or griddle preheated upside down works in a pinch. Cooking directly on the grates is not recommended, the soft dough sags between them before it sets.
Mild to medium woods work best for smoked pizza. Oak, a hickory blend, or fruit woods like apple and cherry all add a gentle smokiness without overpowering the cheese. The cook is short and hot, so the smoke flavor stays subtle no matter which pellets you run.
A soggy middle almost always comes from too much sauce, sauce that went on warm, or a stone that was not fully preheated. Stick to about 1/4 cup of cooled sauce, give the stone a full 30 minutes at 500 degrees, and go easy on watery toppings. The bottom should be browned and rigid when you lift the pizza off the stone.
Absolutely. Any 1 pound ball of pizza dough works, homemade or store bought. The only rule that matters is temperature, let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes so it stretches into a thin round without snapping back or tearing.
Store leftover smoked pizza in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat slices in a 400 degree air fryer or oven for about 5 minutes so the crust crisps back up, the microwave makes the crust chewy. Leftover sauce keeps 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Want to keep the smoker rolling all weekend? Our BBQ rib recipe is the low and slow follow up to pizza night’s hot and fast.
💛 From our kitchen to yours, Jason, Maddie & Lizzie.
We’re a dad and his girls making real food with real butter, real sugar, and a lot of laughing. Pull up a chair, you’re family here.
Easy Smoked Pizza Recipe (Three Cheese)
Ingredients
Pizza
- 1 ball store bought pizza dough at room temperature
- 6 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
- 6 ounces ricotta cheese
- semolina flour for dusting
Tomato Sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced basil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 can crushed tomatoes 28 ounces
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic, minced basil, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes, then stir and cook for 45 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, lemon zest, salt, and black pepper. When the sauce starts to bubble gently, cook it for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the grated Parmesan and chopped fresh basil, and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
- Put the pizza stone in the smoker, close the lid, and heat the smoker and stone to 500 degrees F.
- If the dough is sticky, sprinkle a little flour on it. Press the middle of the dough with your fingers, leaving a 1 inch edge for the crust. Gently stretch and turn the dough until it is a round shape, about 10 to 12 inches wide. Be careful not to tear it.
- Sprinkle plenty of semolina flour on the pizza peel and put the dough on the peel. Spread about 1/4 cup of sauce over the dough with the back of a spoon, leaving a 1 inch edge without sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan on top, then add small spoonfuls of ricotta. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza if you like. Gently shake the peel, and if the pizza does not slide, add more flour under the dough.
- Slide the pizza onto the hot stone by moving the peel forward quickly, then pulling it back. Close the smoker and do not move the pizza for 15 minutes. It is ready when the crust is golden brown, the cheese is melted, and the bottom is fully cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes total.
- Use the peel to move the pizza to a cutting board. Let it cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
The sauce makes about 3 cups, far more than one pizza needs. Keep the extra in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it for the next pizza night.
Semolina flour is the secret to the slide. Dust the peel generously and shake test before you launch.
No smoker? Bake the pizza on a preheated stone in a 500 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Storage: leftover slices keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 400 degree air fryer or oven for about 5 minutes to crisp the crust back up.
Nutrition
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