Spices are widely used in daily life such as diet and have certain activity. Especially in China, spices have been mainly used as condiments for thousands of years in order to improve the sensory quality of food; in addition, they and their derivatives can also be used as preservatives. In this study, three species with Chinese characteristics unique and widely used by the public were selected: cassia bark (bark of Cinnamomum camphoraPresl), bay fruits (Laurus nobilis), and cloves (Syzygiumaromaticum). The main components and antibacterial ability of these three spices were analyzed by simulated extraction method. Through headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, it was determined that the main active compounds in the essential oils of cassia bark, bay fruits and cloves were cinnamaldehyde (78.11%), cinnamaldehyde (61.78%), and eugenol (75.23%), respectively. The agar plate diffusion test and the simulated food culture medium experiment confirmed that the essential oils extracted from the three flavors have antibacterial effects on Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Listeria monocytogenes and 4 kinds of Listeria. The antibacterial activity of different strains has different optimal extraction conditions. Generally speaking, cinnamon essential oil has the strongest antibacterial activity, while laurel fruit has the lowest antibacterial activity. The study proved the antibacterial activity of these three Chinese-specific spices, and provided some new ideas and methods for the subsequent research and preparation of natural food additives and food antibacterial agents.