[Objective]In response to the prominent structural contradiction between carbon emission reduction of cultivated land use and food production, the study takes the Fenhe River Basin in Shanxi Province as an example to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and driving factors of the coupling coordination between carbon emission efficiency of cultivated land use and food security, and provides decision support for improving the carbon emission efficiency of cultivated land use and food security level. [Methods]The undesired output super-efficiency SBM model and the entropy weight method were used to measure the carbon emission efficiency and food security in Fenhe River Basin from 2005 to 2021, and then the spatiotemporal characteristics were analyzed. On this basis, the coupling coordination and its driving factors were discussed by using the coupling coordination degree model and optimal parameters-based geographical detector model. [Results] (1) The carbon emission efficiency of cultivated land use varied significantly among counties, and most counties were still in the middle and low efficiency level. (2) The food security level in Fenhe River Basin showed a trend of “increase–decrease–rebound”; The high-value areas were mainly concentrated in the northeast and southern regions, while the low-value areas were mainly located in the upper reaches of the Fenhe River basin, the urban area of Taiyuan, and the gorge region of Linghuo Mountain. (3) The coupling coordination level between carbon emission efficiency and food security in Fenhe River Basin was relatively low, showing a spatial distribution characteristic of “low in the upstream and high in the middle and lower reaches”. Counties in the stage of imbalanced decline were mainly characterized by lagging carbon emission efficiency, while those in the transitional development stage were mainly characterized by lagging food security. (4) Per capita cultivated land area, urbanization rate and population size were the primary driving factors affecting the coupling coordination level between carbon emission efficiency and food security. [Conclusion]The results can provide a scientific basis for achieving the green and coordinated development of low-carbon agriculture in Fenhe River Basin and other grain production and marketing balance areas in China.