Rapid and accurate evaluation of ecological environmental quality and analysis of spatio-temporal changes has important practical significance for Jinan, China, which is in a critical period of rapid economic and social development, leading to the contradiction between ecological environment and urban development increasingly prominent. In this study, we utilized Landsat 5/TM and Landsat 8/ OLI images to construct the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) for evaluating and analyzing the ecological quality of Jinan from 2006 to 2018. The results indicate that the ecological environmental quality of Jinan is in a satisfied order. The RSEI of Jinan increased slightly from 2006 to 2018 and the area of improving environmental quality accounted for 32.78%. By contrast, the area of decreasing ecological environmental quality only accounted for 18.40%, indicating that the overall ecological environmental quality of Jinan was in an improving trend in recent years. The ecological quality of the southern mountainous area changed greatly and the ecological environment improved obviously, while the ecological environmental quality of the central urban area was relatively stable. The results provide a guidance for local government and data support for ecological protection in the context of rapid urbanization.