diff --git a/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md b/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
index 405e85b9c..2a69e95a6 100644
--- a/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
   to avoid collisions in case of multiple installations.
   [#1211](https://github.com/Kong/charts/pull/1211)
 * Bumped default `kong` image tag to 3.9. [#1219](https://github.com/Kong/charts/pull/1219)
+* Option to add pre-installed plugins to plugin list [#1214](https://github.com/Kong/charts/pull/1214)
+
 
 ## 2.46.0
 
diff --git a/charts/kong/README.md b/charts/kong/README.md
index 62425e1c5..989314dc7 100644
--- a/charts/kong/README.md
+++ b/charts/kong/README.md
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ directory.
 | image.pullPolicy                   | Image pull policy                                                                     | `IfNotPresent`      |
 | image.pullSecrets                  | Image pull secrets                                                                    | `null`              |
 | replicaCount                       | Kong instance count. It has no effect when `autoscaling.enabled` is set to true       | `1`                 |
-| plugins                            | Install custom plugins into Kong via ConfigMaps or Secrets                            | `{}`                |
+| plugins                            | Install custom plugins into Kong via ConfigMaps, Secrets or preInstalled                            | `{}`                |
 | env                                | Additional [Kong configurations](https://getkong.org/docs/latest/configuration/)      |                     |
 | customEnv                          | Custom Environment variables without `KONG_` prefix                                   |                     |
 | envFrom                            | Populate environment variables from ConfigMap or Secret keys                          |                     |
diff --git a/charts/kong/templates/_helpers.tpl b/charts/kong/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 3635f9e60..a83f0e7fe 100644
--- a/charts/kong/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/charts/kong/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -843,6 +843,12 @@ The name of the Service which will be used by the controller to update the Ingre
 {{- range .Values.plugins.secrets -}}
   {{ $myList = append $myList .pluginName -}}
 {{- end }}
+{{- if .Values.plugins.preInstalled -}}
+  {{- $preInstalledPlugins := split "," .Values.plugins.preInstalled -}}
+  {{- range $preInstalledPlugins -}}
+    {{- $myList = append $myList . -}}
+  {{- end -}}
+{{- end }}
 {{- $myList | uniq | join "," -}}
 {{- end -}}
 
diff --git a/charts/kong/values.yaml b/charts/kong/values.yaml
index 4081e36e8..a16f97183 100644
--- a/charts/kong/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/kong/values.yaml
@@ -456,6 +456,8 @@ plugins: {}
   # secrets:
   # - pluginName: rewriter
   #   name: kong-plugin-rewriter
+  # If your development cycle preinstalls the plugin as part of the image, this appends them to the plugins env var
+  # preInstalled: sweet-plugin,another-sweet-plugin
 # Inject specified secrets as a volume in Kong Container at path /etc/secrets/{secret-name}/
 # This can be used to override default SSL certificates.
 # Be aware that the secret name will be used verbatim, and that certain types