Sterilization of solid food has always been a key technical problem in food industry. In order to ensure an energy-saving, efficient, and safe sterilization process, in recent years, a series of emerging physical sterilization technologies have emerged in reference to two physical phenomena from the space extreme environment, electromagnetic wave and plasma. These include thermal physical sterilization technologies represented by catalytic infrared radiation, microwave, radio frequency, and non-thermal physical sterilization technologies represented by photodynamic, pulsed light, cold plasma activated water/ice, and in-package cold plasma. These emerging technologies could adapt to the surface or overall sterilization of solid foods with different forms and component characteristics. This article focused on the core issues and latest application research of relevant technologies, and proposed the main tasks for future development of physical sterilization of solid foods from four aspects. 1) Deepen the mechanism research of physical sterilization technology. Based on different solid food matrix environments, explore the response mechanisms of different food-borne microorganisms under different physical field stress. 2) Promote the key technology research of multi-physical field coupling sterilization. According to the characteristics of different solid food materials, coordinate various emerging physical sterilization technologies with their respective characteristics to establish a balance between sterilization effectiveness and food quality reduction. 3) Break through the manufacturing bottleneck of physical sterilization key equipment. Based on interdisciplinary research, overcome the technical difficulties in development of key equipment for physical sterilization, and minimize manufacturing cost. 4) Promote the development and application of in-package physical sterilization technology. According to the real production scenarios of solid food, promote the development of in-package physical sterilization technology to avoid secondary pollution after sterilization.