Grilled Fruit Pizza Bites (Peach & Strawberry)
If you’ve never grilled fruit, you are in for a treat! Grilled fruit pizza can be enjoyed year-round, even though it highlights summer fruits. It’s a delicate marriage of sweet and tangy, built on your favorite type of pizza crust, making it a light and refreshing, meatless appetizer! Plus…pizza. ‘Nuff said.
The Grilled Fruit Pizza Dough and Spread…
There are endless options for the pizza dough, baked by you, or pre-baked! Cut down on prep time with a refrigerated or frozen dough. Support a local pizza joint and buy a ball of dough. (Yes! That’s a real thing!) Go a more unique route and use my personal favorite pizza crust, classic focaccia bread! For bonus points, bake your dough on the grill!
If baking pizza crust isn’t your thing, pre-baked items like pita bread, naan, or flatbread are all great options too! You could even use mini bagel bites, and serve these for brunch!
To start building this pizza. We need to spread a layer of cream cheese. This helps create a moisture barrier between the juicy fruit and the bread, so it doesn’t go soggy on you. It also give the fruit something to stick to! You could also add a little honey if you wanted a sweeter base.
Grilling Tips Review…
If this is your first time grilling fruit, I’d suggest checking out our grilled fruit top tips and tricks first. It has everything you need to ensure great grilling results! As I prepped the fruit, I laid it out on a sheet tray, and gave it all a spray with my natural oil spritzer before grilling. (I would be LOST without that in my kitchen!)
TIP – If your fruit sticks, your grill probably isn’t hot enough. Crank up the heat, and remember, you aren’t cooking the fruit, you’re just infusing it with the smoke flavor, and adding a little texture / caramelization by searing it for a short amount of time.
The grilling can be done up to a few hours in advance! If you have fruit that’s out of season or not quite ripe, do give it a little more time on the heat to soften. That’s what makes this a great year-round appetizer!
The Finishing Touches of your Grilled Fruit Pizza…
Once you add the fruit, you can absolutely stop and call your pizza done. But, if you want to add more layers of flavor, add goat cheese, more basil, fresh cracked pepper and a pinch or two of finishing salt like I did! Chopped, toasted nuts would also be a great choice! If you’re struggling with the goat cheese at all, pull it apart gently with a fork, and you’ll get nice crumbles of it.
The last thing I needed was something acidic. A sweet friend gifted me the most amazing strawberry balsamic vinegar. I knew it was going to be what tied this whole pizza together. (And I was totally right)!
NOTE: Use a vinegar that’s got a thicker consistency. Otherwise, it will run right off, or soak in, and you’ll lose part of the appeal of using it! The visual contrast is an added bonus to the flavor!
Technique Tip: How to Chiffonade the Basil…
This recipe uses a chiffonade of basil in the cream cheese base, as well as a garnish right before serving. A chiffonade is a knife cut that sounds tough, but I think it’s one of the easiest! Roll up the basil leaves the long way, (you can do many at one time) and then thinly slice across the roll, creating ribbons of basil! This not only add freshness to your grilled fruit pizza, but also color and texture!
If grilled fruit pizza sounds good, but you’re looking for more of a dessert grilled fruit recipe, stay tuned because I’ve got a piña colada inspired bruschetta headed your way!
How will you build your grilled fruit pizza? What kind of crust would your family enjoy? Have you grilled fruit before? Have you made a sweet or savory grilled fruit pizza before? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
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Grilled Fruit Pizza Bites with Peach and Strawberry
Ingredients
- 1 pizza crust of choice* (cooled if freshly baked)
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4-6 leaves fresh basil
- 2 medium peaches firm
- 8 ounces strawberries firm, stem removed, and halved
OPTIONAL TOPPING IDEAS:
- 2-4 leaves fresh basil
- 1-2 ounces goat cheese crumbled
- 1-2 tablespoons strawberry balsamic vinegar or similar
- fresh cracked pepper
- coarse salt
Instructions
- Preheat grill to high heat.
- Wash and cut fruit. Remove pits from peaches and cut into thick wedges (no need to peel). Remove stems from strawberries and cut in half. Lay out on sheet pan and spritz with oil.
- Add fruit to hot grill. Flip after about 1 minute, remove back to sheet pan.
- Once cooled, dice fruit to small bite-sized pieces.
- In a small bowl, whip cream cheese with electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Stack basil leaves on top of each other, roll up tightly, and cut across into small ribbons. Stir into cream cheese.
- Spread cream cheese mixture onto cooled pizza dough of choice, spreading all the way to the edge.
- Add fruit on top of cream cheese, alternating between the two to build various layers.
JUST BEFORE SERVING:
- Add final toppings: salt, pepper, chiffonade of basil, balsamic vinegar, and goat cheese crumbles. (feel free to leave out those you don't care to use, but they all added great flavor to the fruit!)
- Cut into desired shape and size*, serve immediately.
Ooo! Yes! Your presentation is always so beautiful. Definitely pinning this for later because grilled fruit is delish 😀
Awww thanks so much, Colleen! ☺️
Well THIS is definitely gonna happen this weekend. It looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
😋 thank you so much chef
Thanks for stopping by, Belinda!
Looks so good!
Thanks so much!
This is a very good low calorie snack that I am willing to be preparing here and there especially when in need of some sweet-sour kind of bite😍
I hope you enjoy it, NyarocheKristine! Thanks for stopping by!
❤❤
You’ve managed to combine my two favourite things! Pizza and peaches. I love it! We’ve just moved and haven’t bought our new grill yet. Do you think I could try this in the oven? I’d miss the charred flavour, but it might do in a pinch…
Hey Julianne! Thanks so much for your comment and question! I’m not sure about the oven, I think if I didn’t have a grill, or stovetop grill pan, I’d probably opt for a quick sear in a hot stainless or cast iron pan! Do you have one of those? If not – the oven option would be a high broil!