There is a problem that complex operation which leads to a heavy calculation burden is required when the direction of arrival (DOA) of a sparse signal is estimated by using the array covariance matrix. The solution of the multiple measurement vectors (MMV) model is difficult. In this paper, a real-valued sparse DOA estimation algorithm based on the Khatri-Rao (KR) product called the L1-RVSKR is proposed. The proposed algorithm is based on the sparse representation of the array covariance matrix. The array covariance matrix is transformed to a real-valued matrix via a unitary transformation so that a real-valued sparse model is achieved. The real-valued sparse model is vectorized for transforming to a single measurement vector (SMV) model, and a new virtual overcomplete dictionary is constructed according to the KR product’s property. Finally, the sparse DOA estimation is solved by utilizing the idea of a sparse representation of array covariance vectors (SRACV). The simulation results demonstrate the superior performance and the low computational complexity of the proposed algorithm.