This study aimed to explore the effects of different packaging methods on the quality and microflora of steamed large yellow croaker during storage. Changes in the drip loss rate, pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, volatile components, total bacterial count (TBC) and microbial community of steamed large yellow croaker were determined during storage under different packaging conditions. It was found that compared with ordinary packaging (OP), vacuum packaging (VP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) effectively inhibited the increase of TVB-N content during storage of steamed large yellow croaker. VP inhibited lipid oxidation to the greatest extent, and MAP inhibited the growth of microorganisms to the greatest extent. The key volatile components of steamed large yellow croaker after storage were hexaldehyde, octyl aldehyde, nonylaldehyde, capric aldehyde, heptanol and 2-undecone. The flavor of steamed large yellow croaker was better under MAP than under OP and VP. After storage, the bacterial diversity of steamed large yellow croaker decreased, and Gram-negative bacteria predominated in the bacterial community, with Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes being the dominant phyla. The dominant bacteria genera in the OP group were Psychrobacter and Acinetobacter, those in the MAP group were Acinetobacter and Achromobacter, and those in the VP group were Acinetobacter, Shewanella and Pseudomonas. The findings from this study can provide a reference for the selection of packaging methods in the processing and storage of large yellow croaker.