Thawing is an important step before the processing or cooking of meat. However, improper thawing technologies will lead to the deterioration of meat quality in some aspects. Therefore, it is very necessary to develop highly cost-effective thawing technologies. After the traditional and new thawing technologies, some unique and innovative ones have emerged in recent years. In addition to briefly summarizing the thawing process and common thawing technologies of meat, this paper reviews these unique thawing technologies including the inspiration for their development, their working principles and related research. Meanwhile, some suggestions for the development of thawing technologies in the future are put forward. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for the selection and optimization of the proper thawing technologies for meat and meat products.