In recent years, more and more studies had found that ferroptosis regulated the death of nerve cells in the process of ischemic stroke. The ferroptosis of nerve cells was composed of three pathways: iron metabolism, lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism. During ischemic stroke, the abnormal intake and excretion of iron in nerve cells with the pathway of iron pathway made the increase of intracellular free iron cause Fenton reaction; the up-regulation of acyl-coenzyme A synthetase long-chain family member 4 and lipoxygenase in lipid pathway promoted the transformation of polyunsaturated fatty acids into lipid peroxides on cell membrane; the abnormality of cystine/glutamate reverse transporter and glutathione peroxidase 4 in amino acid pathway led to the excessive accumulation of lipid peroxides. These pathways were related to each other and eventually led to ferroptosis of nerve cells. Here, the relationship between ischemic stroke and ferroptosis was summarized, in order to provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke.