Due to its advantagessuch as ionic crosslinking, pH responsiveness, excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low price, alginate has become one of the most important natural polysaccharides extensively used in constructing desired delivery systems for food bioactive ingredients. In this review, the fundamental knowledge of alginate as a building block for construction of nutraceutical delivery systems is introduced. Then, various types of alginate‐based nutraceutical delivery systems are classified and summarized. Furthermore, the future trends of alginate‐based delivery systems are highlighted. Currently, alginate‐based delivery systems include hydrogel, emulsion, emulsion‐filled alginate hydrogel, nanoparticle, microparticle, core–shell particle, liposome, edible film, and aerogel. Although alginate has been widely used in the fabrication of food bioactive ingredient delivery systems, further efforts and improvements are still needed. For this purpose, the future perspectives of alginate‐based delivery systems are discussed. The feasible research trends of alginate‐based delivery systems include the development of novel large‐scale commercial preparation technology, multifunctional delivery system based on alginate, alginate oligosaccharide‐based delivery system and alginate‐based oleogel. Overall, the objective of this review is to provide useful guidance for rational design and application of alginate‐based nutraceutical delivery systems in the future.