This study aimed to investigate the effect of different coating materials on the quality of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) during chilled storage for 10 days. Fresh shrimp were randomly divided into five groups: the control group, the hypotaurine treatment group (2%), the chitosan group (1%), the hypotaurine + chitosan group (2% hypotaurine solution with 1% of chitosan), and the sodium metabisulfite treatment group (1.25%). Compared with other treatments, the lower accumulation of total visible counts (TVC, 5.25 Log 10 CFU/g), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N, 22.5 mg/100 g) and thiobarbituric acid values (TBA, 0.58 mg MDA/ kg) suggested that coating of chitosan-hypotaurine could retard the microbial activity, protein degradation and lipid oxidation of shrimp. Meanwhile, results demonstrated that the chitosan coating combined with hypotaurine showed an excellent performance in inhibiting quality deterioration (pH 7.5, ∆E 7.0, hardness 393 g, and elasticity 0.69). Furthermore, the melanosis degree of shrimp was alleviated, and the sensory parameters, including appearance, odor and texture, were maintained to the acceptable level by chitosan based hypotaurine treatment during the chilled storage.