With the inevitable human innate aspirations for better urban mobility and sustainable economic development, bio-based transportation fuels are projected to play an essential role in the foreseeable automotive transportation sector. Agricultural-based renewable diesel (RD) is the prospective fuel of tomorrow due to its excellent fuel properties and environmentally friendly attributes. This review summarises the evolution of research works related to upgrading of plant oils and fatty acids to diesel-like hydrocarbons via catalytic deoxygenation (CDO) technologies in the past decade. Throughout this review paper, a strong emphasis is put on the fundamental chemistry, reaction mechanism, and kinetic modelling. The influence of the key process parameters that may affect the diesel hydrocarbon product yields/selectivity including the types of feedstock, types of catalyst, and key operating conditions are also explicated. This paper also addresses the technical barriers, challenges, and prospects of CDO technologies that could potentially bridge between the existing research gaps and industrial practices in these areas. In summary, this paper will help scientific researchers and industrial practitioners to explore the recent scientific advances and potential strategies in producing sustainable diesel fuel from natural plant oils and fatty acids. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.