Under the rural revitalization strategy, protecting dietary intangible cultural heritage in Henan Province is particularly important. This study explores the protection countermeasures of intangible cultural heritage of cuisine (shorted as ICH)in Henan Province to promote the sustainable development of culture and tourism. The research methods include DEA model, TOPSIS method, exploratory spatial data analysis and coupling degree analysis. The results show that between 2016 and 2023, the coupling degree of ICH and rural tourism in Henan Province increased from 0.4241 to 0.6917.Especially in Nanyang City, the development of ICH cultural and tourism projects significantly promoted rural tourism, and its level of rural tourism development increased from 0.51 to 0.98.In addition, the grey correlation analysis reveals that the market demand, technological innovation, business interests and policy support are the main influencing factors. The coupling and coordination degree of NGT and rural tourism shows an upward trend. The conclusion points out that the protection of dietary intangible cultural heritage in Henan Province needs to pay attention to market demand, technological innovation and policy support to achieve the dual goals of rural revitalization and cultural protection.