When you consider your outdoor grill is an extension of your indoor oven — and what outdoor chef doesn’t? It means that with a little imagination and forethought you can cook much of your Thanksgiving meal outdoors — you may want to do this to free up indoor oven space or to keep the kitchen from being so hot!
Using the grill for your pumpkin or sweet potato pie adds a depth of flavor you just can’t get when cooking indoors. The best part of this recipe? You can use any pie recipe you love and it will cook just as wonderfully on the outdoor grill or in a pizza oven as it will indoors.
The main thing to consider is getting the grill to the correct temperature and keeping it consistent.
Quick & Easy Grilled Pumpkin Or Sweet Potato Pie
Here is a delightful grilled pumpkin pie recipe you can make from scratch and done using your outdoor grill from start to finish. If sweet potato pie is more to your liking or if you want to do both, dig out your favorite sweet potato pie recipe and grill one up!
Grilled Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
For the pumpkin pie filling
- 1 medium sugar pumpkin (approximately 3 lbs) (You can also use canned pumpkin to make your pie)
- 2 tablespoons Canola oil + extra Canola oil for oiling the pumpkin
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
For the pie crust
- 2 cups +1 cup all-purpose flour (or you can use a store bought pie crust)
- ¼ teaspoon pie crust
- 2/3 cups cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons cold water
Directions:
- Preheat your barbecue grill to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 minutes.
- Remove the pumpkin’s stem and cut it in half. Scrape out all of the seeds and rub a generous amount of canola oil inside and outside both pumpkin halves. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil with the cut side up. Put them onto direct heat and close the lid. Leave it on your grill for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the pumpkin’s flesh can be pressed down with a fork.
- While waiting for the pumpkin to grill, you can start preparing the pie crust. Combine 2 cups of the all-purpose flour and the salt in a large mixing bowl. Using your fingers, add in the butter to the flour and salt until it becomes crumbly. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the water. Mix in the crumble mixture until it becomes a moist dough. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Wrap one in plastic wrap and set this aside so that you can use this later.
- Dust a flat surface and your rolling pin with flour. Flatten out the dough using a rolling pin until it becomes a flat circle measuring 12 inches in diameter. Use the remaining canola oil and flour to grease and flour a 9-inch pie dish to prevent the dough from sticking. Transfer the flattened dough into the pie dish. Fold the excess dough under and crimp this to make it more presentable. Pierce the dough using a fork and wrap the entire thing in plastic wrap. Refrigerate this for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, take out the pie crust from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Line the inside of the crust with aluminum foil and dried beans to prevent the bottom or the sides from puffing up while grilling it.
- By this time, the pumpkin has already roasted. Take this out of the barbecue grill and allow it to cool. Move the coals to either side of the grill so that the center serves as your indirect heat area. Place the pie dish here and close the lid. Leave this for 12 minutes or until the sides of the pie is set. Remove the pie crust and take out the aluminum foil with the dried beans. Allow it to cool before turning down the temperature of your grill so that it’s down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Scoop out the flesh from the roasted pumpkin and blend in a food processor until it becomes a puree. Add in the condensed milk, whipping cream, cornstarch, molasses, canola oil, cinnamon, ginger, salt and eggs and blend them together until it becomes smooth.
- Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie crust. Lightly tap this to make sure that there are no bubbles.
- Place this on the indirect heat area of your grill and allow this to bake for about 1 hour or when you put a knife into the center of the pie, and it comes out clean. Place this onto a rack and allow this to cool for 30 minutes.
Serve the pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream dusted with cinnamon. To make the sweet potato pie even more special, toss on some miniature marshmallows before the end of the cooking time and keep the pie in the grill until the marshmallows are melted and ooey-gooey!