In recent years, aerogels have received more and more attention from researchers due to their properties such as low density, high porosity, high specific surface area and low thermal conductivity. Polysaccharide-based aerogel is a solid porous nanomaterial with three-dimensional network structure prepared by using polysaccharide as the precursor material and transforming the liquid phase in the gel with gas phase through a drying method. In addition to the characteristics of traditional aerogel materials, polysaccharide-based aerogels also have the advantages of non-toxicity, easy availability of raw materials, biocompatibility and biodegradability. This article summarizes the preparation methods of polysaccharide-based aerogels, and reviews the properties and applications of different types of polysaccharide-based aerogels prepared with different precursor materials, so as to provide a reference for the research and application of polysaccharide-based aerogel materials in food packaging.