The commercial LiFePO4 cathode has attracted great attention for large-scale energy storage because of its high safety, low cost, low toxicity and excellent thermal stability. Unfortunately, the poor electronic conductivity of LiFePO4 leads to bad lithium storage property. In this work, the nitrogen-doped graphene-decorated LiFePO4 was prepared via a facile hydrothermal method followed by a conventional solid-state route. Benefiting from the advantages of nitrogen-doped graphene, the conductivity of LiFePO4 is greatly improved. Therefore, the obtained composite shows excellent electrochemical performances, including high reversible capacity (163.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C), good rate capability (113.7 mAh g−1 at 10 C) and stable cycle-life (111.6 mAh g−1 after 150 cycles at 10 C). These results reveal that the designed nitrogen-doped graphene-decorated LiFePO4 composite is a promising cathode material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. •LiFePO4 nanocrystals embedded in nitrogen-doped graphene sheets have been successfully fabricated through a simple sol-gel approach followed by the solid-state reaction.•The conductive nitrogen-doped graphene sheets can greatly enhance the apparent electronic conductivity of LiFePO4 material.•The as-prepared LiFePO4-NG electrode exhibits outstanding high-rate capability and long cycle-life for lithium-ion batteries.