Although a little more time consuming, the diet bases on homemade recipes, thus the ingredients and quantities can be controlled. The South Beach Diet recipes share some common characteristics:

• Are made of healthy ingredients, containing good carbs, good fats, low GI foods;
• Phase 2 and 3 include foods from all food groups allowing a balanced diet, providing the body a variety of nutrients;
• Are flexible, easy to make, can be customized to meet personal exigencies and have variants for vegans
• Allow a wide range of ingredients and flavors, so you won't suffer from diet boredom;
• There are a number of dishes that are not usually associated with diets; they are so common and pleasant-tasting that it almost makes you forget that you are on a diet.

Following a meal plan, the South Beach diet recipe list can be classified:

• South Beach Diet Breakfast Recipes, such as:
  • South Beach Diet Palm Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Muffin Recipe
• South Beach Diet Lunch Recipes, such as:
  • South Beach Diet Soup Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Pork Recipe & Beef Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Chicken Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Fish Recipe (Seafood)
  • South Beach Diet Chili Recipe
• South Beach Diet Dinner Recipes, such as:
  • South Beach Diet Cauliflower Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Salad Recipe
• South Beach Diet Dessert Recipes, such as:
  • South Beach Diet Pancake Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Cookie Recipe
  • South Beach Diet Ricotta Recipe

These are only suggestions, the classification may be customized to fit anyone's personal requirements and taste — that is, even if a food is largely considered as “lunch food”, you can still have it for breakfast or a snack, whenever you feel like it. What is truly valuable about the South Beach Diet is that the recipes are integrated into a lifestyle you can easily live with.