Background and ObjectivesGrain and oil processing by‐products contain dietary fiber with high quality, but most of them have not been utilized due to their high content of insoluble dietary fiber and coarse texture, which are detrimental to the quality improvement of cereal food.FindingsSteam explosion treatment can transfer dietary fiber from insoluble to water‐soluble resulting in a high content of water‐soluble dietary fiber. The content of soluble dietary fiber in cereal processing by‐products with steam explosion treatment is increased from 27.48% to 171% via optimal conditions of steam explosion treatment. The structure of dietary fiber from cereal processing by‐products is disrupted to a honeycomb porous shape, therefore, the physicochemical properties of dietary fiber are improved, such as hydration capacity, oil, cholesterol, and bile salts binding capacity, hypoglycemic capacity, and antioxidant activity.ConclusionsSteam explosion treatment is a rapidly developing and extremely promising pretreatment technology for physicochemical properties enhancement of dietary fiber from grain and oil processing by‐products.Significance and NoveltyThis review can provide some useful references for the properties improvement of soluble dietary fiber in grain and oil processing by‐products by steam explosion pretreatment. It may facilitate the application of soluble dietary fiber in the food industry.