This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of yeast extract (YE) replacing spray dried plasma protein (SDPP) on growth performance, plasma biochemical indices and intestinal morphology of early-weaned piglets. One hundred and forty seven piglets (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) from 15 pens (average pen weight 6.22±0.16 kg; weaned at 21±1 d) were assigned into 3 treatments, and fed one of the following diets for 14 days: a control diet, a SDPP diet (SDPP, 30 g/kg control diet), and a YE diet (YE, 30 g/kg control diet). On the 15th day of the experiment, five piglets per treatment were randomly selected from each replicate for plasma sample, and then slaughtered for jejunum and ileum collections. The results showed that no significant difference was observed in ADG and FI among three groups. Compared with the SDPP group, plasma phosphorous was lower in the YE group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, plasma lysine (P=0.052) and methionine (P=0.082) tended to decrease in the SDPP and YE groups, but plasma isoleucine increased significantly both in the SDPP and YE groups (P<0.01), and plasma valine only increased in the YE group (P<0.05), and leucine tended to increase in the SDPP and YE groups; plasma glutamate and glutamine concentrations decreased by 20.5% (P=0.07) and 19.02% (P=0.08) in the weanling piglets from YE group. No difference was observed in the villus height and crypt depth of jejunum. These results indicated that SDPP could be replaced by yeast extract in diet without any detrimental effect on growth performance in early-weaned pigs.