Food safety is a major healthcare concern globally. Foodborne pathogens are held responsible for the elevated incidence of foodborne diseases worldwide, which also has an economic impact more so in developing countries. For these reasons, it is crucial to supply food that has undergone testing and is safe for consumption. Initially, testing for pathogens solely relied on culture-based methods; which turned out to be time-dependent and labor-intensive. Identification of pathogens in a short time with standard accuracy stood as a challenge. After decades of research, rapid detection methods were developed to ensure food safety at an industrial level. Rapid techniques comprised of nucleic acid-based methods like PCR, multiplex PCR, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and DNA microarray; immunological-based methods like enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lateral flow immunoassays and optical, electrochemical, and mass-related biosensor were the popularly used methods. DNA markers were also commercially available for the detection of the target organism in the sample. The main purpose to devise these molecular techniques was to provide rapid, highly sensitive, and specific results while being economically convenient. This report summarizes the existing molecular methods and improvements that were made over the years for the detection of foodborne pathogens.