Abstract: Lipid-based nanoparticles are a natural food grade colloidal transport carrier used for the delivery of hydrophobic bioactive substances, which can effectively improve the water-dispersibility, stability, and bioavailability of active substances, and thus have good development and application prospects. As a class of natural steroid compound with various functional properties such as cholesterol lowering, phytosterols are greatly limited for their addition and application in food field because of the low water- and oil-solubility, and high crystallinity. This article reviewed the types and characteristics of lipid-based nanoparticles, the current research status of lipid-based nanoparticles, the functional characteristics of phytosterols and their bottlenecks in food applications, and the research progress of lipid-based nanoparticles for phytosterol delivery. It provided a detailed introduction to the construction, physicochemical properties, and research progress in digestion of phytosterols loaded lipid-based nanoparticles. Besides, the optimization and modification of phytosterols loaded lipid-based nanoparticles through multi-component interaction were discussed, and the necessity of studying lipid-based nanoparticles at the cellular and in vivo levels was also prospected. It is expected that this new colloidal delivery system will provide a good approach for expanding the application of phytosterols in low-fat or water-dispersible functional foods such as beverages.