Both metabolic syndrome (MetS) and stroke are associated with increased risk of mortality. Here, we aimed to assess the prevalence of MetS among adults using three definitions (Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III), International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and IDF ethnic specific cut-off for Iranian criteria) and its association with stroke. We performed a cross-sectional study of a total of 9991 adult participants of Rafsanjan Cohort Study (RCS), as part of the Prospective epidemiological research studies in Iran (PERSIAN cohort study). The MetS prevalence was evaluated in participants according to the different criteria. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between three definitions of MetS with stroke. We found that MetS was significantly associated with higher odds of stroke according to NCEP-ATP III (odds ratio (OR): 1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.30–2.74), international IDF (OR:1.66, 95% CI: 1.15–2.40) and Iranian IDF (OR:1.48, 95% CI: 1.04–2.09) after adjusted for variables confounders. Furthermore, after adjustment, in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the AUROC was 0.79 (95% CI = 0.75–0.82), 0.78(95% CI = 0.74–0.82) and 0.78(95% CI = 0.74–0.81) for presence of MetS according to NCEP-ATP III, international IDF and Iranian IDF, respectively. ROC analyses revealed that all of these three criteria for MetS are “moderately accurate” for the identification of increased stroke risk.In conclusion, our results showed that MetS was associated with increased odds of stroke. Our findings implicate the importance of early identification, treatment, and ultimately prevention of the metabolic syndrome.