A rapid analysis method for Zanthoxylum bungeanum with different processing techniques based on infrared spectroscopy was established. The infrared spectra of four kinds of Zanthoxylum bungeanum treated by oven-dried, low-temperature grinding, naturally sun-dried and steam enzyme-inactivated were tested, and comparative analysis was conducted on the relative peak area ratios (A₂₉₂₇/A₃₃₆₃, A₁₆₂₆/A₃₃₆₃, and A₁₁₀₄/A₃₃₆₃) corresponding to esters, flavonoid, and saccharide absorption peaks in mid-infrared spectra of Zanthoxylum bungeanum with different processing techniques. Multivariate statistical analysis, including cluster analysis and discriminant analysis, was subsequently performed on the spectra of Zanthoxylum bungeanum treated by four different processing techniques. The results demonstrated that: different processing techniques had effect on the relative content of esters, flavonoid and saccharide in Zanthoxylum bungeanum; the relative content of esters and flavonoid in low-temperature grinding and naturally sun-dried Zanthoxylum bungeanum samples were significantly higher; the relative content of saccharide in steam enzyme-inactivated and oven-dried samples was significantly higher. The infrared spectra combined with clustering analysis and discriminant analysis, had a good distinguishing effect on 4 kinds of Zanthoxylum bungeanum samples with different processing techniques. The principal component scores extracted from spectral data were used as independent variables to establish a discriminant analysis model, which achieved both an original classification accuracy and a cross-validation classification accuracy of 100%, and it was able to accurately discriminate Zanthoxylum bungeanum samples with unknown processing techniques. Infrared spectroscopy can analyze the influence of different processing techniques on the relative content of Zanthoxylum bungeanum components. Combined with multivariate statistical analysis, it can distinguish Zanthoxylum bungeanum samples with different processing techniques, and provide technical support for the rapid evaluation of the quality of Zanthoxylum bungeanum with different processing techniques.