Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI) is a central pathological process in the exacerbation of neurological damage after ischemic stroke, which involves complex mechanisms such as neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and cell death. In recent years, the role of dendritic cell-associated C-type lectin 1 (Dectin-1) as a pattern recognition receptor in regulating CIRI has gradually attracted attention. In this paper, we systematically reviewed the structure and function of Dectin-1, its signalling pathway and its multidimensional role in CIRI, and explored the intervention strategies targeting Dectin-1, to provide a new direction for the future in-depth study of Dectin-1 and the precise treatment of ischemic stroke.