BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to select appropriate low-toxicity degreasing solvents to degrease black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens L.) larvae to prepare high-quality protein. Aqueous ethyl acetate was chosen as the solvent to extract BSF protein, and traditional solvents, such as petroleum ether, n-hexane, and isopropanol, were chosen as controls.RESULTS: The meal degreased by aqueous ethyl acetate (the volume ratio of ethyl acetate to water is 90 to 10, EA + W10) shows a high degreasing rate (29.04%), crude protein content (562.3 g kg −1 ), essential amino acid index (EAAI, 95.57), and digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS, 85). The digestibility of the degreased meal samples in the simulated in vitro intestine can reach 76.52%. Thermodynamic analysis and the apparent morphology of the protein fragments showed that the meal degreased by EA + W10 exhibited thermodynamic stability, which suggests that using aqueous ethyl acetate as the degreasing solvent did not affect the nutritional value of the degreased meal. CONCLUSION:The results suggest that aqueous ethyl acetate (EA + W10) can be used as a novel solvent in the degreasing of BSF larvae meal to prepare high-quality protein with high EAAI and DIAAS and good digestibility. Protein content =Protein mass Degreased meal mass × 100% Amino acid composition and nutritional evaluationThe amino acid composition of each sample was determined by the method described by Yang et al. 33 All amino acid content values were presented as grams per kilogram of protein and compared to the FAO/WHO (World Health Organization) 34 reference pattern. The proportion of essential amino acids to total amino acids was expressed as E/T (%). The essential amino acid