The effects of starch type and concentration, egg white powder concentration and surimi concentration on the gel properties, water-holding capacity, texture characteristics, whiteness and sensory score of precooked shrimp cake prepared from Penaeus vannamei meat were investigated. Based on the results of single factor experiments, the formulation of precooked shrimp cake was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) with gel strength and sensory scores as response values. The results showed that compared with other starches, cassava phosphate starch could effectively improve the eating quality of shrimp cake. The optimal formulation was determined as follows: 0.5% salt, 1% sodium glutamate, 3% lard, 0.5% compound phosphate, 2% soy protein isolate, 0.5% ginger powder, 0.5% onion powder, 1% cooking wine, 10% water, 15% mixed vegetable granules, 5.98% starch, 4.80% egg white powder, and 30.22% surimi relative to the mass of shrimp. The sensory score and gel strength of shrimp cake prepared using the optimized formulation were 89.20 and 65.06 g·cm respectively, which were not significantly different from the predicted values.