The invention relates to a method for detecting carboxy methyl lysine (CML) in soybean sauce. The method comprises the following steps: firstly, carrying out detection pretreatment on CML in a soybean sauce system, namely, detection pretreatment on free-state CML and combined-state CML; carrying out detection pretreatment on the free-state CML, namely sampling, adding a methanol solution to dilute, swirling and evenly mixing, purifying through a C18 solid-phase extraction column, adding a methanol solution to elute, filtering through a micro-filtration membrane to obtain a sample 1 to be detected; carrying out the detection pretreatment on the combined-state CML, namely sampling, reducing through sodium borohydride, separating polypeptide and protein through a dialysis bag, hydrolyzing through hydrochloric acid, disacidifying through vacuum, purifying through the C18 solid-phase extraction column, filtering through the micro-filtration membrane, drying in vacuum, re-dissolving to obtain a sample 2 to be detected; and subsequently, carrying out CML detection on the sample 1 and the sample 2 to be detected respectively. A total content of the CML is sum of the content of the free-state CML and the content of the combined-state CML. The sample pretreatment method has the characteristics of elimination of interference, protection of chromatographic column, safety and reliability, and capability of completely analyzing all the CML in the soybean sauce.