To investigate the long-term efficacy of the minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy (MIILE) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients, a retrospective comparison of the quality of life (QOL) and survival between patients who underwent MIILE and left transthoracic esophagectomy (Sweet approach) was conducted. A detailed database search identified 614 patients who underwent MIILE and 243 patients who underwent Sweet esophagectomy between January 2011 and December 2017. After propensity score matching, 216 paired cases were selected for statistical analysis. Survival was evaluated with Kaplan-Meier curves or Cox models. MIILE was associated with a longer duration, less blood loss and more lymph node dissected than Sweet esophagectomy. MIILE patients suffered from less pain, less frequently developed pneumonia, and had fewer postoperative complications. Additionally, MIILE patients began oral intake earlier and had a shorter postoperative hospital stay, and enhanced recovery of QOL. There was no significant difference between the approaches regarding the recurrence pattern, 2-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS), except that patients with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage I in the MIILE group demonstrated superior OS and DFS. Pathological TNM stage and postoperative complications were determined to be independent prognostic factors based on the multivariate analysis. MIILE is a safe and feasible approach for treating ESCC patients. MIILE approach may provide more postoperative advantages, enhanced QOL improvement, and more favorable long-term survival in early stage patients than the Sweet procedure.