Nanosheet like nickel metal organic frameworks (Ni-MOFs) have been synthesized using solvothermal route at room temperature. Functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been embedded into these MOFs through equilibration to prepare the composite. The composite (Ni-MOFs/MWCNTs) has been used as a modifier in sensor fabrication on glassy carbon electrode surface and successfully applied in dopamine measurement through cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques. The composite has exhibited enhanced electrochemical performance with a very low detection limit of 0.017 μ M. The protocol showed wide linearity in the concentration range 2–200 μ M with a sensitivity of 17.14 μ A μ M −1 cm −2 . The proposed electrochemical platform exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity in dopamine sensing which has been successfully applied to real sample matrices like human blood serum and injection. Highlights Ni-MOFs/MWCNTs composite has been synthesized using simple solvothermal route at room temperature The composite has been characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA and BET analysis The fabricated sensor exhibited wide linearity with a very low limit of detection of 0.017 μ M. It has been successfully applied to measure trace level dopamine from real sample matrices like dopamine hydrochloride injection and blood serum under optimized conditions.