Cellulose assisted combustion synthesis (CACS) has emerged as a novel variation of traditional solution combustion synthesis (SCS) over the past decade for the synthesis of catalytically active nanomaterials. This report targets to summarize the fundamental developments in the synthesis technique seeking correlations between synthesis conditions, observed chemo-physical properties. Molecular level interactions among the metal precursors and reducing agents that lead to combustion reaction and thermal wave propagation in CACS are expected to be different from the SCS method due presence of cellulose fibrils affecting the thermo-physical properties and energy density of the system. In addition, the void spaces and pores may generate a complex network of micro and nanoreactors as opposed to a continuous volume of reacting species in SCS. The goal of this report is to gather the essential developments so far and provide an outlook for future directions.