How to Build an Outdoor Grill Cart – woodworking plans!

Want to build a DIY wooden grill cart for your BBQs and outdoor parties? Here’s how we built this beautiful cart – be sure to scroll to get the PDF plans!

It’s that time of year when everything tastes better straight off the grill. Cooking fresh vegetables, burgers and hot dogs on the grill while standing outside is always so much fun.

Grilling season is the best. Whether it’s a tailgate or a birthday party, everyone likes to grill.

But what I don’t like is having to take six trips back and forth to the kitchen to bring out all my grilling stuff. Hence the birth of this outdoor DIY grill cart.

This DIY outdoor rolling grill cart is a great project for anyone that likes to cook outside. It helps you bring out your grill supplies and also doubles as a serving cart.

We’ll show you how to build this rolling grill cart and how you can grab the woodworking plans to make one yourself!

Check out 30 more outdoor furniture designs you can build with a Kreg Jig!

DIY Rolling Outdoor Grill Cart

We don’t have the luxury of an outdoor kitchen – I wish.

But, a rolling grill cart can make a DIY outdoor BBQ station seem much fancier and more efficient.

I wanted a cart that I could wheel in and out of the house so that I could load up any of my grilling supplies and wheel them back out to the patio in one load.

This is also beneficial if you’ve ended up with 4 or 5 plates of food that you need to wheel back into the house.

How to build a grill cart

This outdoor grill cart is really easy to make. It would also make a great Father’s Day present for someone in your life!

I started by making all the cuts for the entire project. The whole cart is made from common 1x4s.

We have the entire cut list along with the material list in the printable PDF woodworking plans!

For this, I used a Dremel Sawmax for all my cuts. I could have used a fixed saw, but because each cut was short and quick, it was easier to freehand the cuts.

The Sawmax is super accurate, quick and has lots of other capabilities of cutting other materials.

I started by building the frame of the grill cart using my a Kreg pocket hole jig. Using pocket holes ensures the cart will be structurally solid.

It’s always best to make all the cuts for a project and do their pocket holes before sanding and prepping for assembly.

I built the sides, then connected them together, added short boards for the two bars and then nailed on the boards for the top and bottom.

All of my joinery is done with pocket hole screws and wood glue for extra stability.

For this project, I didn’t sand any of the boards down before I built the cart. Instead, I decided to use the sanding attachment on the Dremel MultiMax. This allowed me to sand everything smooth together and saved me a lot of time.

After sanding it all down, we stained and sealed the cart to protect it against any food stains that may occur when you’re in the heat of your grill down.

We also attached casters to the front legs so that this cart can roll. The back legs don’t have casters so they can serve as the fixed point when the cart is on the ground.

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Remember to also always use safety equipment while woodworking and using tools. Make sure you have proper eye protection, ear protection and a good mask to keep yourself safe.

Accessorizing

The last part of this outdoor grill cart was to accessorize it.

You’ll notice that I included a dowel that runs along the side, which can be used for paper towels and aluminum foil.

We also added hooks for various grill flipping supplies. The last accessory is probably the most critical- the bottle opener.

Top it off with a butcher block top cutting board or the platters or buckets to meet your needs.

DIY rolling grill cart

Now when I’m going out to cook something on the grill, I load everything up that I need.

I can fit the food, plates, silverware, grilling planks, grilling basket, cooler and more.

This small outdoor cart could also be used for platters or drinks when hosting, or even to hold plants!

Or bring it inside and use it as a rustic bar cart! So many possibilities.

Then you can play darts on our DIY dartboard cabinet (click for free plans!)

I love how this grill table turned out and can’t wait to really put it to use.

Woodworking Plans

Want to build this outdoor rolling grill cart for yourself? Now you can!

We’ve got a full set of printable PDF woodworking plans available for you to build this project!

Our woodworking plans include the full cut list, material list and step-by-step instructions with computer model imagery to help you make this grill cart for yourself!

Any questions about how to build a rolling grill cart?

This post was sponsored by Dremel and Kreg Tool’s BuildSomething.com. All opinions are our own and our opinion is that we love working with Dremel and Kreg products. Thanks for supporting the brands that make Charleston Crafted possible!

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Sean

Hey there, I’m Sean, the woodworking enthusiast and builder behind CharlestonCrafted.com! Since 2012, I’ve been sharing the magic of turning raw materials into beautiful creations. I love teaching others the art and satisfaction of woodworking and DIY. I try to inspire fellow crafters to make something extraordinary out of nothing at all.