A method for controlling a motor torque of a hybrid electric vehicle is provided. The method may include: detecting, with a controller, a downshift request during a regenerative braking; determining, with the controller, a target gear stage and a motor torque command, wherein the motor torque command is determined at a pre-shift stage before entering into a torque intervention; determining, with the controller, a motor torque command of the target gear stage; determining, with the controller, an intervention torque based on the motor torque command and the motor torque command of the target gear stage during a downshift control process; and controlling a torque intervention to control a regenerative operation of the motor based on the intervention torque, wherein determining the intervention torque includes changing the intervention torque from the motor torque command to a target value, which is set as the motor torque command of the target gear stage, during a shift control process.