Metal nanoparticles, with high surface area to volume ratios and heterogeneous catalytic properties, are a very challenging research area. In the last decades, many efforts have been devoted to the design of supramolecular metal nanoparticles in order to be used in aqueous medium. In catalysis, water is a highly desirable solvent for developing chemical reactions, in accordance with the principles of green chemistry. In this context, the utilization of macrocyclic compounds, in association with transition metal nanoparticles, appears to be a very appealing approach for developing water-dispersible catalytic systems, with high levels of performances and selective molecular recognition abilities. The purpose of this review is to summarize the research done in this field, focusing attention on cyclodextrins by taking advantage of their unique topologies such as their rigid cyclic structure, their ability to form inclusion complexes with molecules of appropriate size and shape, the presence of hydroxyl groups enabling coordination with metal ions.In this review, we discuss the most commonly used methods, which have been reported over the last forty years, for stabilizing catalytically active metal nanoparticles derived from various cyclodextrin-based systems. The most significant and representative examples devoted to the development of such systems are described, with the purpose of increasing stability, recyclability and catalytic activity, using supramolecular chemistry as a remarkable tool. Some pivotal aspects of their synthesis, characterization and catalytic behaviors are presented, with special attention to (i) the development of metal nanoparticles in solvent-dispersed form or immobilized onto supports in the presence of cyclodextrins or their derivatives, (ii) to the multifunctional role of cyclodextrins capable of acting as reducing agents, stabilizing/dispersing agents or mass transfer promoters, even possibly the three and (iii) to the design of more sophisticated catalytic systems, in which the cyclodextrin plays a central role of supramolecular host with dynamic equilibrium.