Purpose <p>Cooking skills seem to influence individuals’ consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF). However, there are no studies evaluating this relationship in people who have undergone metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). This study aimed to assess the association between UPF consumption and the cooking skills of individuals after MBS.</p> Material and Method <p>This is a cross-sectional, online, nationwide study. Cooking skills were assessed using the cooking skills index (CSI), and UPF consumption was measured using the NOVA-UPF score. Data was also collected on sex, age, body mass index (BMI), economic classification, surgical technique, time since surgery, and whether the reported consumption was at the weekend to be included as adjustment variables in the relationship between the NOVA-UPF score and the CSI.</p> Results <p>The study included 1525 individuals with a mean of 37.90 (SD 54.12) months who had undergone MBS (median 12&#xa0;months), an age of 38.53 (8.02) years, and a BMI of 29.97 (5.82) kg/m². The participants scored an average of 7.84 (SD 1.93) for the CSI and 2.75 (2.19) for the NOVA-UPF score. The CSI was negatively associated with the NOVA-UPF score (<i>β</i> =  − 0.12; 95%CI =  − 0.18; − 0.06), even after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, economic classification, surgical technique, surgery time, weekend food consumption, marital status, diabetes, and hypertension (<i>β</i> =  − 0.12; 95%CI =  − 0.17; − 0.07). This negative association was also observed in the analysis of the prevalence of food intake in subgroups from the NOVA-UPF score, namely processed drinks, processed meats, sweets, and margarine.</p> Conclusion <p>CSI is negatively associated with UPF consumption in individuals undergoing MBS.</p>