Objective The modification of sodium alginate hydrogel scaffold materials using Centella asiatica herbal monomers was studied to improve their mechanical properties and provide a better living environment for cells. Methods A three-dimensional cell-carrying porous composite hydrogel scaffold was constructed using sodium methacrylate-anhydride alginate as the scaffold material，N-Vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) and traditional Chinese medicine monomer as the pore-forming agent. Characterize its basic physicochemical properties and evaluate its value for application to cell adhesion and 3D culture in terms of mechanical properties，biocompatibility，and cell co-culture. Results The most stable performance and the highest degree of cross-linking of the hydrogel after gel formation was measured when the optimal ratio of sodium methacrylate-anhydride alginate to NVP and the concentration of Centella asiatica was 6 mg/mL. The highest swelling rate was 45% and the highest mass loss rate was 61.5% compared with the blank group，which had a significant effect on the degradation of the gel. Preliminary cytocompatibility studies revealed that the composite hydrogel scaffold was non-cytotoxic and enabled proliferation of renal tubular epithelial cells，with cells adhering to the surface growing in an oriented manner to form a single cell layer and cells within the hydrogel scaffold growing in three dimensions. Conclusion The obtained herbal monomer-type hydrogel scaffold promotes cell adhesion and growth while also facilitating cell migration，which could provide new ideas for the assembly of herbal natural promoted molecules into green gel technology，and was of great research significance in accelerating the practical application of natural scaffold materials in the field of tissue engineering.