BACKGROUND Salted duck egg white (SDEW) is a major by‐product during salted egg yolk manufacturing. Due to the high salt concentration, SDEW has not been efficiently utilized. Moreover, functional properties of SDEW are altered by salt during pickling. To improve the functional properties, the effect of κ‐carrageenan (κ‐CAR) addition on the protein structure and gel properties of SDEW was investigated in this study. RESULTS The surface hydrophobicity and free sulfhydryl content of SDEW protein increased, while total sulfhydryl content decreased significantly with the addition of κ‐CAR (0.02–0.10%). Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed that the relative content of α‐helix and β‐turn decreased, β‐sheet and random coil increased, indicating the variation tendency of protein structure from order to disorder. As κ‐CAR addition increased, the texture profiles including hardness, gumminess, chewiness, springiness, cohesiveness and resilience of SDEW gel were all improved. Water holding capacity increased significantly by 32.33% in the presence of 0.10% κ‐CAR addition. The scanning electron microscopy indicated that the microstructure of SDEW/κ‐CAR mixed gel was more smooth and compact. CONCLUSION The results suggested that adding κ‐CAR can be an effective method to improve gel quality of SDEW. This study is expected to provide theoretical basis for modification of SDEW protein, as well as preparation of food ingredients with better gel properties from SDEW. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry