There is something ridiculously fun about making Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire. Maybe it is the crispy crust.
Maybe it is the old school Long Island roots. Or maybe it is the fact that this style of pizza feels like something your grandma would actually make at home with whatever oven she had sitting in the kitchen. Either way, this cook absolutely delivered.
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Woodfire Grandma Pizza
Equipment
- Ninja Woodfire
- ¼ Sheet Pan
- Bowl
- Knife
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
- 1 New York Style Pizza Dough Ball 10oz
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil Estimate
- 1 Can San Marzano Style Tomatoes 28 Oz
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Dad Dust
- 8 OZ Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese
- ¼ CUP Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
Prepare the Dough:
- Let the New York Style Pizza Dough sit out at room temperature until rested and pliable (about 1-2 hours). Coat the Sheet Pan generously with Olive Oil. Stretch the dough into the pan, making sure it reaches the edges and slightly up the sides. Cover with Plastic Wrap and let it rise for 20 to 30 minutes.
Prepare the Tomatoes:
- Crush and drain the San Marzano Style Tomatoes by hand until thick and not overly wet. Add a pinch of Salt and a pinch of Dad Dust. Place the tomatoes in the fridge while the dough continues rising.
Prepare the Cheese:
- Thinly slice the Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese instead of shredding it.
Preheat the Woodfire:
- Fill the Pellet Hopper with Pellets and give it the “dad shake.” Set the Ninja Woodfire to the Roast Setting at 425°F (218°C) with Woodfire turned on.
Assemble the Pizza:
- Punch out the air bubbles in the dough like focaccia. Add spots of the crushed tomatoes over the dough. Add a little extra Dad Dust and Grated Parmesan Cheese. Add a few extra spots of tomato where needed.
Cook the Pizza:
- Place the pizza into the Woodfire and cook for approximately 12 to 15 minutes, checking based on appearance rather than time. Rotate the pizza around the 8 minute mark for even cooking.
Check for Crispness:
- Around the 12 minute mark, check the underside of the pizza for a crispy golden crust.
Rest and Slice:
- Remove the pizza from the Woodfire and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Work around the edges carefully before serving.
Video
Notes
- 120G Granulated Garlic
- 120G Granulated Onion
- 1 tablespoon MSG
- Place all the items in a shaker and mix well.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?Mention @DadGotThis or tag #DadGotThis!This whole idea started with a simple question. What exactly is grandma pizza? Unlike a traditional high heat pizza oven pie, grandma pizza comes from Italian American home kitchens where people had to work with standard ovens and sheet pans. Instead of chasing leopard spotting and fancy pizza oven temperatures, the goal here is crispy, cheesy, comforting pizza with a texture that lands somewhere between focaccia, Sicilian pie, and New York pizza.
And honestly, Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire might be one of the best applications for the Woodfire yet.
The thing that really makes this style stand out is the texture. The dough gets stretched into a heavily olive oiled sheet pan, which creates that crunchy underside that practically sounds like stepping on autumn leaves when you bite into it. At the same time, the inside stays soft and airy. You still get that New York style pizza flavor, but now it has this crispy edge and focaccia style chew that just works ridiculously well in the Woodfire.
The tomatoes also keep things simple in the best possible way. No cooked sauce. No giant ingredient list. Just crushed and drained San Marzano style tomatoes with a pinch of salt and Dad Dust. That lighter sauce approach keeps the pie from getting soggy and lets the crust stay crisp while still bringing bright tomato flavor to every bite.
Why Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire Works So Well
One of the smartest things about this cook is how well the Woodfire's roast setting matches the style of pizza. Instead of trying to force the appliance into acting like a blazing hot pizza oven, the cook leans into what the machine naturally does well.
Cooking at 425 degrees Fahrenheit on the roast setting with the Woodfire turned on gave the pizza plenty of heat while keeping the top from burning. That was a big deal here because the goal was balance. Crispy bottom. Perfectly cooked dough. Browned cheese. No scorched top.
The result looked exactly like what grandma pizza is supposed to be.
The underside developed a deep golden crisp while the top stayed cheesy and bubbly with little spots of bright tomato throughout the pie. That texture payoff became obvious during the taste test. The crust had crunch, but the inside still stayed soft and airy.
That is where this style really separates itself from traditional pizza.
Instead of being all about a thin foldable slice or a super thick Sicilian square, this lands right in the middle. You get crispy edges, airy dough, and a sheet pan pizza vibe that feels homemade in the best possible way.
The Simplicity of Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire
One of the best parts about Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire is how approachable it is. This is not one of those pizza recipes where you need specialty ovens, complicated techniques, or a chemistry degree to understand hydration percentages.
The dough gets stretched into a sheet pan.
The tomatoes get crushed by hand.
The mozzarella gets sliced instead of shredded.
That is pretty much it.
Even the sauce prep feels intentionally simple. The tomatoes are crushed and drained until they become thick and less watery. That keeps the pie from turning into a soggy mess while still giving you fresh tomato flavor. Saving the extra tomato liquid for soup or sauce later is also one of those practical kitchen moments that fits perfectly with the grandma pizza story.
Then there is the cheese.
Using sliced whole milk mozzarella instead of shredded cheese changes the whole feel of the pizza. You get those pockets of melted cheese spread throughout the pie instead of a perfectly even layer. Combined with the spots of tomato and parmesan cheese on top, the finished pizza ends up looking rustic and homemade in the best possible way.
The final result honestly looked fantastic.
The crust had color. The underside had crunch. The cheese melted beautifully. And according to the taste test, there were zero tweaks needed. That is probably the strongest endorsement a recipe can get on this channel.
Grandma Pizza on the Ninja Woodfire Delivers the Perfect Texture
Texture is the entire story here.
The crispy bottom from the olive oil coated sheet pan completely changes the experience compared to standard pizza. Then you combine that with the airy dough texture and the cheesy top and it creates something that feels unique even though the ingredients themselves are incredibly simple.
The Woodfire also helped create that texture by cooking a little hotter than a standard oven while still keeping everything controlled. Rotating the pizza halfway through the cook helped even things out and gave the crust consistent color all around.
And when that underside check happened around the 12 minute mark, everything came together exactly the way it was supposed to.
That crisp sound during slicing pretty much told the whole story.
This really did look like one of those recipes where the simplicity becomes the superpower. No overloaded toppings. No complicated sauce. Just dough, tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, and texture doing all the work.
Also, the fact that this entire cook ended with a Jabba the Hutt pizza joke somehow feels exactly right for grandma pizza on a Ninja Woodfire.
Ingredient and Equipment Links:
Use Dad's Affiliate Link & get your own Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect Outdoor Grill:
https://ninjakitchen.pxf.io/k0JNLN
Ninja Woodfire Grill Griddle:
https://amzn.to/3S2Dpnd
Smokin Pecans Pellets:
https://amzn.to/3LiZx9i
Raised Grates for Ninja Woodfire:
https://amzn.to/3LjweU2
Quart Sheet Pans:
https://amzn.to/43ckOKA
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