diff --git a/src/_nebari/initialize.py b/src/_nebari/initialize.py
index 7566fe7b4..13826dc2d 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/initialize.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/initialize.py
@@ -178,6 +178,23 @@ def render_config(
         config["certificate"] = {"type": CertificateEnum.letsencrypt.value}
         config["certificate"]["acme_email"] = ssl_cert_email
 
+    # Add ingress configuration with HSTS settings
+    # Determine if HSTS should be enabled based on certificate type
+    cert_type = config.get("certificate", {}).get(
+        "type", CertificateEnum.selfsigned.value
+    )
+    is_valid_cert = cert_type in [CertificateEnum.letsencrypt.value, "existing"]
+    hsts_enabled = is_valid_cert
+
+    config["ingress"] = {
+        "hsts": {
+            "enabled": hsts_enabled,
+            "max_age": 31536000,  # 1 year
+            "include_subdomains": True,
+            "preload": False,
+        }
+    }
+
     if config_set:
         config_set = read_config_set(config_set)
         config = utils.deep_merge(config, config_set.config)
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/__init__.py b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/__init__.py
index b83d5039f..99238ce01 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/__init__.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/__init__.py
@@ -145,7 +145,17 @@ class DnsProvider(schema.Base):
     auto_provision: Optional[bool] = False
 
 
+class HSTS(schema.Base):
+    # See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Strict-Transport-Security
+    # for more info
+    enabled: bool = True
+    max_age: int = 31536000
+    include_subdomains: bool = True
+    preload: bool = False
+
+
 class Ingress(schema.Base):
+    hsts: Optional[HSTS] = None
     terraform_overrides: Dict = {}
 
 
@@ -203,6 +213,24 @@ def input_vars(self, stage_outputs: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]):
                 cert_details["cloudflare-dns-api-token"] = os.environ.get(
                     "CLOUDFLARE_TOKEN"
                 )
+
+        # Initialize HSTS based on certificate type if not explicitly configured
+        hsts = self.config.ingress.hsts
+        if hsts is None:
+            # Only enable HSTS for valid certificates (lets-encrypt, existing)
+            # Do not enable for self-signed certs to avoid HSTS pinning issues during initial setup
+            is_valid_cert = cert_type in ["lets-encrypt", "existing"]
+            if is_valid_cert:
+                hsts = HSTS()
+            else:
+                hsts = HSTS(enabled=False)
+
+        hsts_config = {
+            "hsts-enabled": hsts.enabled,
+            "hsts-max-age": hsts.max_age,
+            "hsts-include-subdomains": hsts.include_subdomains,
+            "hsts-preload": hsts.preload,
+        }
         return {
             **{
                 "traefik-image": {
@@ -217,6 +245,7 @@ def input_vars(self, stage_outputs: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]):
                 **self.config.ingress.terraform_overrides,
             },
             **cert_details,
+            **hsts_config,
         }
 
     def set_outputs(
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/main.tf b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/main.tf
index b8476b8b4..19bdbf670 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/main.tf
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/main.tf
@@ -16,4 +16,9 @@ module "kubernetes-ingress" {
   load-balancer-annotations = var.load-balancer-annotations
   load-balancer-ip          = var.load-balancer-ip
   additional-arguments      = var.additional-arguments
+
+  hsts-enabled            = var.hsts-enabled
+  hsts-max-age            = var.hsts-max-age
+  hsts-include-subdomains = var.hsts-include-subdomains
+  hsts-preload            = var.hsts-preload
 }
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/hsts-middleware.tf b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/hsts-middleware.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5912c740
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/hsts-middleware.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+resource "kubernetes_manifest" "hsts_middleware" {
+  count = var.hsts-enabled ? 1 : 0
+
+  manifest = {
+    apiVersion = "traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1"
+    kind       = "Middleware"
+    metadata = {
+      name      = "${var.name}-hsts"
+      namespace = var.namespace
+    }
+    spec = {
+      headers = {
+        stsSeconds           = var.hsts-max-age
+        stsIncludeSubdomains = var.hsts-include-subdomains
+        stsPreload           = var.hsts-preload
+        forceSTSheader       = true
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/main.tf b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/main.tf
index 77e0b7a58..6f9575f59 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/main.tf
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/main.tf
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ locals {
     disabled    = []
   }
   add-certificate = local.certificate-settings[var.certificate-service]
+
+  # HSTS middleware configuration
+  hsts-middleware = var.hsts-enabled ? [
+    "--entrypoints.websecure.http.middlewares=${var.namespace}-${var.name}-hsts@kubernetescrd",
+    "--entrypoints.minio.http.middlewares=${var.namespace}-${var.name}-hsts@kubernetescrd",
+  ] : []
 }
 
 
@@ -308,6 +314,7 @@ resource "kubernetes_deployment" "main" {
             "--log.level=${var.loglevel}",
             ],
             local.add-certificate,
+            local.hsts-middleware,
             var.additional-arguments,
           )
 
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/variables.tf b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/variables.tf
index a895d7b50..bed0c679a 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/variables.tf
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/modules/kubernetes/ingress/variables.tf
@@ -90,3 +90,27 @@ variable "additional-arguments" {
   type        = list(string)
   default     = []
 }
+
+variable "hsts-enabled" {
+  description = "Enable HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) headers"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = false
+}
+
+variable "hsts-max-age" {
+  description = "HSTS max-age in seconds (default 300s / 5 minutes; increase to 31536000 for production)"
+  type        = number
+  default     = 300
+}
+
+variable "hsts-include-subdomains" {
+  description = "Include subdomains in HSTS policy"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = true
+}
+
+variable "hsts-preload" {
+  description = "Enable HSTS preload"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = false
+}
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/variables.tf b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/variables.tf
index 940d0597e..c592a6549 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/variables.tf
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_ingress/template/variables.tf
@@ -81,3 +81,27 @@ variable "additional-arguments" {
   type        = list(string)
   default     = []
 }
+
+variable "hsts-enabled" {
+  description = "Enable HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) headers"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = false
+}
+
+variable "hsts-max-age" {
+  description = "HSTS max-age in seconds (default 300s / 5 minutes; increase to 31536000 for production)"
+  type        = number
+  default     = 300
+}
+
+variable "hsts-include-subdomains" {
+  description = "Include subdomains in HSTS policy"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = true
+}
+
+variable "hsts-preload" {
+  description = "Enable HSTS preload"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = false
+}