The dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior of high-grade X80/X100 pipeline steels with different Nb contents was investigated through single pass compression experiment using a Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical simulator. By the regression of stress-strain data obtained in the experiment, the deformation activation energy of DRX was identified, and the critical strain was calculated with the Poliak-Jonas (P-J) method. Based on the analysis, the occurrence condition and kinetics of DRX were determined. The results show that as the Nb content increases from 0.08wt% to 0.095wt%, the activation energy of recrystallization raises from 365 to 395 kJ/mol. The critical strain of DRX can be determined more accurately by the P-J method, and the ratios of critical strain to peak strain of X80 and X100 pipeline steels are 0.51 and 0.49, respectively, which are similar to the results achieved by other researchers and calculated with empirical formulae.