Meat production has long suffered from practical problems, such as high resource consumption, pollution, animal antibiotic residues and zoonotic diseases. The meat-based diet has also been criticized for not only inefficient production processes and a high carbon footprint, but also potential nutritional unbalance. In addition to challenges from population growth, animal disease epidemics and trade wars, the safety and sustainability of traditional meat production is encountering unprecedented challenges. Considerable progress has been made towards the development and production of meat alternatives, including cultured meat, plant-based meat alternatives, microbial protein, edible fungi, microalgae, and insect protein. In this review, we summarize the development status of various meat alternatives, discuss the associated technological challenges, and highlight important areas for future research. The current status of legislation, standard setting, and regulatory acceptance of meat alternatives are also discussed.