Transforming the ways food systems are governed is key to achieving better social, environmental, and economic outcomes, all crucial to sustainable development. Strong multisectoral governance is critical to achieving this, but there is little evidence on the structure and function of governance mechanisms in this context. We undertook a policy review of 197 countries globally to map existing multisectoral food system governance institutions, develop a typology based on their characteristics, and identify their building blocks. We identified 34 countries with a relevant institution: four established a ministry (or unit), and 30 had a formal structure for coordination (‘governance mechanism’) in place. Ten such mechanisms only included government agencies, while 20 had a participatory approach and included non-state actors. We identified nine building blocks that define the functions that the institutions are designed to fulfil, from tasks across agenda setting, policy making, decision making, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The diverse institutions uncovered indicate that there is no single ‘one-size- fits- all’ solution.