The rapid and simultaneous analysis of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg), as heavy metals known to be hazardous to public health, is always a challenge in complicated soil matrices. A novel solid sampling electrothermal vaporization atomic absorption spectrometry (SS-ETV-AAS) based on integrated catalytic pyrolysis technique was fabricated to develop a fast and sensitive method for the direct determination of Cd and Hg in soil. However, direct solid sampling of soil results in matrix interferences that affect the accurate analysis of Cd. In this work, modifier mixture of NaCl and citric acid (2:1 for soil: modifier) was optimized and employed to promote Cd release from soil for rapid and accurate detection, of which 30% citric acid (m:m) was added to alleviate soil coagulation at high temperatures. Under optimized conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) for Cd and Hg were 0.7 and 0.3 ng g-1 using sample size of 0.1 g. The linearity (R2) was both >0.999 and the recoveries were in the range of 81-115% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) 0.3-10.1%, showing excellent sensitivity, precision and accuracy. The complete analysis time can be controlled within ~3 min without any digestion process. The proposed method is suitable for the simultaneous detection of Cd and Hg in soil samples with features of simple, rapid and green.