In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a compact optical fiber sensor based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) cascaded with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) for simultaneous measurement of refractive index (RI) and temperature. In order to get a proper spectrum, we discuss the effects of different structure parameters of MZI. Using the resonant wavelength of the FBG (Dip_FBG) and the interference dip of the MZI (Dip1), the RI and temperature of the surrounding medium can be determined. The sensor has good operation linearity. The experimental results show that the distinctive spectral sensitivities are 0.071 75 nm/°C and -91.766 67 nm/RIU (refraction index unit) for Dip1 and 0.009 09 nm/°C for Dip_FBG.