A validated method for preconcentration and determination of nateglinide in plasma was developed using vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. Different variables that affect extraction efficiency were studied and optimized, including type and volume of extractant, type and volume of disperser, pH of diluent, salt addition effect, centrifugation and vortex time. Nateglinide was extracted using 30 mu L of 1-octanol as an extractant and 200 mu L of methanol as a disperser. The enrichment factor reached 330 under the optimum conditions. High-performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet was used for detection using phosphate buffer (pH 2.5, 10 mM): acetonitrile (45:55, v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The method was linear over the range of 50-20,000 ng/mL with a limit of detection of 15 ng/mL (signal-to-noise ratio = 3). Intra-and inter-day precision had %relative standard deviation <6% (n = 3) and the %recoveries were found to be between 102.5 and 105.9%. The proposed method is simple, sensitive, eco-friendly, cost-effective and powerful for microextraction of nateglinide from human plasma samples.