Abstract: This study investigated the effect of pretreatment with high-humidity hot air impingement cooking (HHAIC) combined with two different post-drying technologies on the color quality of dried Litopenaeus vannamei, establishing two reference groups for rigorous comparative experimental analysis. Shrimp without any pretreatment served as the blank group, while the shrimp pretreated with boiled cooking (BC) served as the control group representing traditional processing methods. For the treatment groups, shrimp were pretreated using HHAIC at a constant temperature (120 ℃) and relative humidity (40%) with different cooking durations (0, 90, 180, 270, 360 s) to screen the optimal pretreatment time for color preservation. After pretreatment, the shrimp were dried using air impingement drying (AID) and hot air drying (HAD) at the same temperature (60 ℃) for comparative investigation. A series of multi-dimensional indicators were measured in this experiment, including changes in the appearance, color, astaxanthin content, astaxanthin cis-trans isomer content, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging capacity, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) content, absorbance of non-fluorescent substances, and browning index of the dried shrimp. These indicators were systematically analyzed using a colorimeter, UV spectrophotometer, and high-performance liquid chromatography to comprehensively evaluate the color quality and related nutritional and safety indicators of dried shrimp. The results showed that the blank group had the poorest appearance quality with severe browning defects. Compared to the control group, the HAD group pretreated with HHAIC for 270 s (HAD-270) exhibited increases in L*, a*, and b* values of 10.80%, 34.99%, and 41.95%, respectively. The AID group pretreated with HHAIC for 90 s (AID-90) showed more significant increases of 22.18%, 64.39%, and 51.63% in L*, a*, and b* values, respectively, indicating that HHAIC pretreatment resulted in a brighter orange-red color in the dried shrimp products, which was more acceptable to consumers. The astaxanthin content in the HAD-270 and AID-90 groups increased by 20.52% and 30.64%, respectively, compared to the control group, demonstrating that HHAIC pretreatment could significantly enhance the astaxanthin content in the dried shrimp and effectively retain the functional nutrients of the products. The DPPH radical-scavenging capacities of the HAD-270 and AID-90 groups were 9.19% and 3.88% higher, respectively, than those of the control group, indicating that HHAIC pretreatment effectively improved the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity of the dried shrimp and enhanced its nutritional value. The content of astaxanthin isomers in the HAD-270 and AID-90 groups increased by 76.37% and 125.33%, respectively, compared with the control group, suggesting that HHAIC pretreatment significantly promoted astaxanthin isomerization and further improved the color stability of dried shrimp. Compared with the control group, the 5-HMF contents in the HAD-270 and AID-90 groups decreased by 6.55% and 32.94%, and the absorbance of non-fluorescent substances decreased by 3.53% and 25.61%, respectively, indicating that HHAIC pretreatment could effectively suppress the generation of Maillard-reaction-related products during the drying process and reduce the formation of harmful substances. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive or negative relationships between color parameters and astaxanthin content, DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, and Maillard-reaction-related indicators, suggesting that increases in astaxanthin and its isomer content, enhanced radical-scavenging capacity, and reduced Maillard browning thereby synergistically contributed to the improved color quality of the dried shrimp. In conclusion, HHAIC pretreatment can effectively enhance the color quality of dried Litopenaeus vannamei products. This study provides important theoretical support and practical technical guidance for improving the color quality of aquatic dried products and promoting the high-quality development of the aquatic product processing industry.