The yak (Poephagus grunniens), an indigenous herbivore raised at 3,000 to 5,000 meters above sea level across the Asian highlands, is one of the main livestock grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). At present, there are approximately 17.6 million yaks in the world, of which more than 95% are raised in China. Yaks play a vital role in ecosystem stability, livelihood security, socio-economic development, and ethnic cultural traditions on the QTP. Yak meat is the main product of yak industry, and its quality characteristics have always been unclear. This research systematically reviewed the eating quality, processing quality, nutrition quality, health safety quality and cultural quality of yak meat by collecting yak meat samples from different species, ages, genders, feeding methods and regions in the QTP. The quality characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of yak beef were demonstrated. On this basis, the research progress of yak meat quality through nutrition regulation was systematically introduced, which provided the basis for the construction of the world’s largest green organic yak meat export land and the development of yak industry.