We aimed to fully review the association of empirical dietary patterns with the risk of noncommunicable chronic diseases and to rate the quality of the evidence. Published meta-analyses of observational studies investigating the association of empirically-derived dietary patterns with the risk of chronic diseases were identified by searching PubMed and Scopus till September, 2019. Two independent reviewers extracted the information and rated the quality of the evidence by NutriGrade score. For each meta-analysis, cross-sectional and case-control studies were excluded and then, summary relative risk (SRR) was recalculated by using a random-effects model. Sixteen meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies, reporting 18 SRRs for healthy dietary patterns and 16 SRRs for unhealthy patterns obtained from 116 primary prospective cohort studies with 4.8 million participants, were included. There was moderate quality of evidence for the inverse association of healthy dietary patterns with the risk of type 2 diabetes, fracture, and colorectal and breast cancers. There was also low quality evidence for the inverse relation between healthy dietary patterns and the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, depression, and coronary heart and respiratory diseases. There was moderate quality of evidence for a positive association between unhealthy dietary patterns and the risk of type 2 diabetes, fracture, and metabolic syndrome. Adopting a healthy dietary pattern may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and premature death. More research is needed for outcomes for which the quality of the evidence was rated low, such as respiratory disease, mental illness, and site-specific cancers.