The present invention provides a method of synthesizing a nano-sized transition metal catalyst on a carbon support, including dissolving a stabilizer in ethanol thus preparing a mixture solution, adding a support to the mixture solution thus preparing a dispersion solution, dissolving a transition metal precursor in ethanol thus preparing a precursor solution, mixing the precursor solution with the dispersion solution with stirring, and then performing reduction, thus preparing the nano-sized transition metal catalyst. This method enables the synthesis of transition metal nanoparticles supported on carbon powder having a narrow particle size distribution and a wide degree of dispersion through a simple process, and is thus usefully applied to the formation of an electrode material or the like of a fuel cell.