Islanded DC microgrids composed of distributed generators (DGs), constant power loads (CPLs), parallel converters, batteries and supercapacitors (SCs) are typical nonlinear systems, and guaranteeing large-signal stability is a key issue. In this paper, the nonlinear model of a DC microgrid with a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) is established, and large-signal stability criteria are obtained. The HESS consists of batteries and SCs. The derived criteria reveal the influences of the filter parameters, CPL power, DG power and the proportional control parameters of the battery converter and the SC converter on the system large-signal stability. Furthermore, important large-signal stabilization methods for regulating the HESS converter’s control parameters can easily achieve the large-signal stabilization of islanded DC microgrids without extra equipment. The paper is summarized as follows: First, the topology of and control strategy for a DC microgrid with an HESS and CPLs are proposed. Then, according to the characteristics of the HESS, the DGs and the CPLs, the system is equivalently simplified. Finally, the nonlinear model and large-signal stability criteria are both derived using the mixed potential theory, and a large-signal stabilization design method for the HESS converter’s control parameters is proposed. The experimental and simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed large-signal stabilization method.