Polarized light assessment of biological samples is a simple, fast, non-invasive and efficient technique for tissue characterization. Herein, we explore the optical polarization signatures of ex vivo muscle tissue samples of chicken, ox/beef and goat (male)/mutton, through Mueller matrix spectro-polarimetry in the spectral range of 570–800 nm. The results showed statistically significant (p< 0.01) differences in the depolarization and retardance among the tissue samples of three animal species. These findings demonstrate a novel application of optical polarimetry, namely the characterization of muscle tissues from different animal species, which may be extended for differentiating various sources and quality assessment of meat.