A QuEChERS with high performance liquid chromatographic(HPLC) method was developed for the determination of 17 phthalate esters(PAEs),e.g.DMEP,DMP,DEEP,DEP,DPhP,BBP,DIBP,DBP,DBEP,DPP,DCHP,BMPP,DHXP,DEHP,DNOP,DINP and DNP,in food samples.The targeted compounds were extracted with acetonitrile,and purified by PSA-based QuEChERS(50 mg PSA and 150 mg MgSO4).The extract were separated on a C18 column with mobile phase composed of water and acetonitrile by gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The UV detection wavelength was set at 224 nm.Under the optimal conditions,the calibration curves of phthalate esters were linear in the ranges of 0.5-10 mg/L for DINP and 0.05-10 mg/L for the others with correlation coefficients(r2) more than 0.99.The average recoveries of 17 analytes from 5 kinds of food matrixes were in the range of 70%-120% with RSDs(n=6)less than 15%.The detection limits(LODs,S/N=3) of phthalate esters were 0.001-0.02 mg/L and the quantitation limits(LOQs,S/N=10) were 0.05-0.5 mg/kg.The proposed procedure was applied in the analysis of 432 real samples from Xiamen,Fujian province(China),in which 18 positive samples were found.The proposed method was simple and accurate,and could be applicable for the routine analysis of monitoring PAEs residues in foodstuffs.