Lung recruitment maneuvers (RMs) is an important treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients; however, assessing lung recruitability is imperative to avoid biotrauma and hemodynamic instability. This study aims to investigate whether the cytokine levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of ARDS patients can serve as an indicator of their lung recruitability. This study included ARDS patients who received mechanical ventilation for over 24 h. Patients were categorized into lung recruitment maneuver effective (RM-E) group and lung recruitment maneuver noneffective (RM-N) group. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in BALF, lung ultrasound (LUS) scores, and the oxygenation index (P/F) were measured. The differences in cytokine levels between the two groups were compared, and correlations between changes in cytokine levels (ΔIL-6, ΔIL-8, and ΔIL-10), ΔLUS, and ΔP/F were analyzed. Sixty-two patients were included in this study (38 in the RM-E group and 24 in the RM-N group). After the RM, compared with the RM-N group, an increase was observed in ΔIL-6 (=0.013), ΔIL-8 (=0.045), ΔIL-10 (=0.039), and ΔLUS (=0.045) in the RM-E group. A positive linear correlation was found between ΔIL-6 and ΔLUS ( = 0.504, < 0.001). The area under the lung recruitment potential curve (AUC) predicted by ΔIL-6 was 0.794, the sensitivity was 94.7%, and the specificity was 70.8%. A positive linear correlation was found between ΔIL-6 and ΔLUS ( = 0.504, < 0.001). The lung recruitment potential curve's AUC predicted by ΔIL-6 was 0.794, with a sensitivity of 94.7% and specificity of 70.8%. Lower levels of cytokines in BALF were observed in the RM-E group. It is possible that the cytokines in BALF, especially IL-6, could be used to determine the need for RM on the basis of lung recruitability.