A vacuum cooking apparatus and cooking method using the vacuum cooking apparatus, which automatically performs cold storage, thawing, cooking, and warming functions in a single cooking apparatus, thus improving cooking convenience. In the cooking method, a temperature of a cooking cavity is decreased by creating a vacuum state in the cooking cavity for a preset period in response to a cold storage signal, thus performing a cold storage mode that allows food to be stored at a low temperature. The cold storage mode is terminated after the preset period has elapsed, and then a cooking mode is performed by heating the food.