Abstract Accurate prediction of local field distribution plays an important role in failure analysis of FRP laminates. Based on the variational asymptotic method (VAM), a asymptotic dimensional reduction model (ADRM) of FRP laminated beams that can be implemented in standard finite element programs is developed, which provides a novel idea for local field recovery of FRP laminated beams. The present theory formulates the original 3D elasticity problem in a variational form, which is applicable for arbitrarily large displacement and global rotation. Then, the unknown 3D warping functions are solved asymptotically by the ADRM, resulting in the classical model (zero-order approximation) and asymptotically correct refined model (first-order approximation), respectively. Finally, the refined model is casted into a generalized Timoshenko beam model (GTM) using equilibrium equations, which can be applied conveniently in real applications. Numerical examples of FRP laminated I-beams and box-beams show that the local field distributions obtained from GTM are in good agreement with those of finite element analysis, while the computational cost and modeling effort of VAM-based analysis are significantly lower than those of direct finite element analysis.