A methodology-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was proposed to separate epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from natural plant extracts. A molecular crowding agent was introduced to improve the affinity and recognizing ability of EGCG in the preparation of an MIP monolith. Acrylamide was used as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was the crosslinking monomer, using a solution of polystyrene in tetrahydrofuran as a molecular crowding agent with isooctane as a coporogen. In addition, it was found that the ratio of the macromolecule agent, the amount of templates and crosslinking degree, and the composition of the mobile phase greatly affected the retention of the template and performance of molecular recognition. The imprinting factor of the resulting MIP monolith obtained was up to 9.67. The resulting MIP can be used to purify EGCG from crude tea polyphenol efficiently with mean recoveries of 87.42 %.