The work aims to protect the food quality and extend the shelf life of the food with natural antibacterial agent. The carvacrol essential oil was coated through the self-assembly properties of zein and then carvacrol composite nanoparticles were prepared with sodium caseinate as the stabilizer. The zein nanoparticles had a high encapsulation efficiency (71.52% ~ 80.09%) on carvacrol and the carvacrol composite nanoparticles were uniformly distributed and spherical, with a particle size range of 80 ~ 220 nm. Meanwhile, the nanoparticles coated on carvacrol had good resolubility, storage stability and antioxidant properties, and showed good antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. These composite nanoparticles can effectively improve the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of food, inhibit food spoilage and prolong the shelf life, which has potential application prospects in the food industry.