Lectin can bind with carbohydrate specifically, non-covalently and reversibly, known as a kind of carbohydrate-binding proteins. The presence of a large number of glycoprotein molecules on the surface of food-borne pathogens makes it possible that lectin bind with food-borne pathogens with high affinity, making lectin been widely used in the rapid detection of food-borne pathogens. When applied as a recognition agent for the separation and detection of food-borne pathogens, lectin harbors the merits of improving the practicability of the new detection methods, eliminating matrix interference, improving sensitivity and shortening sample processing time. In this article, the basic information of the lectins and the mechanism of carbohydrate specificity recognition were introduced, and the application progress of lectin used in the field of rapid detection of food-borne pathogens were reviewed.