diff --git a/docs/reference/search/search-template.asciidoc b/docs/reference/search/search-template.asciidoc
index 9f836ddd663b6..4d9aeca6ce2bd 100644
--- a/docs/reference/search/search-template.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/search/search-template.asciidoc
@@ -288,3 +288,24 @@ GET /_search/template
 }
 ------------------------------------------
 <1> Name of the the query template stored in the .scripts index.
+[added 1.5.0]
+===== Render template
+
+You can get the rendered version of a template by calling 
+[source,js]
+GET /_render/template
+------------------------------------------
+GET /_render/template
+{
+    "template": {
+        <1>
+    },
+    "params": {
+        <2>
+    }
+}
+------------------------------------------
+<1> The template as defined by the _search/template enpoint
+<2> The params for this template
+
+This will return a rendered version of this template.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/api/render_template.json b/rest-api-spec/api/render_template.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e28685e36dea9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rest-api-spec/api/render_template.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+  "render_template": {
+    "documentation": "http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/search-template.html",
+    "methods": ["GET", "POST"],
+    "url": {
+      "path": "/_render/template",
+      "paths": [ "/_render/template" ],
+      "parts": {
+        "id": {
+          "type" : "string",
+          "description" : "Template ID",
+          "required" : true
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "body": {
+      "description": "The search definition template and its params"
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/test/template/30_render.yaml b/rest-api-spec/test/template/30_render.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3cdc439f3ff8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rest-api-spec/test/template/30_render.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+"Render Template":
+
+  - do:
+      render_template:
+        body: { "template": { "query": { "{{foo}}": {}}, "size": "{{my_size}}" }, "params": { "foo": "match_all", "my_size": 10} }
+  - match: { "template": { "query": { "match_all": {} }, "size": "10"} }
+
+  - do:
+      put_template:
+        id: "1"
+        body: { "template": { "query": { "{{foo}}": {}}, "size": "{{my_size}}" } }
+  - match: { _id: "1" }
+
+  - do:
+      render_template:
+        body: { "template": { "id" : 1 }, "params": { "foo": "match_all", "my_size": 10} }
+  - match: { "template": { "query": { "match_all": {} }, "size": "10"} }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/RestActionModule.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/RestActionModule.java
index 1eb9016f40f73..73299ee58ec3b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/RestActionModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/RestActionModule.java
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.template.RestDeleteSearchTemplateAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.template.RestGetSearchTemplateAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.template.RestPutSearchTemplateAction;
+import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.template.RestRenderSearchTemplate;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.termvector.RestMultiTermVectorsAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.termvector.RestTermVectorAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.action.update.RestUpdateAction;
@@ -226,6 +227,7 @@ protected void configure() {
         bind(RestGetSearchTemplateAction.class).asEagerSingleton();
         bind(RestPutSearchTemplateAction.class).asEagerSingleton();
         bind(RestDeleteSearchTemplateAction.class).asEagerSingleton();
+        bind(RestRenderSearchTemplate.class).asEagerSingleton();
 
         // Scripts API
         bind(RestGetIndexedScriptAction.class).asEagerSingleton();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
index 03cbb7995d471..027198ccc7eda 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ private void cleanContext(SearchContext context) {
     }
 
     private void parseTemplate(ShardSearchRequest request) {
-
         final ExecutableScript executable;
         if (hasLength(request.templateName())) {
             executable = this.scriptService.executable("mustache", request.templateName(), request.templateType(), request.templateParams());
@@ -605,46 +604,51 @@ private void parseTemplate(ShardSearchRequest request) {
             if (!hasLength(request.templateSource())) {
                 return;
             }
-            XContentParser parser = null;
-            TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext templateContext = null;
+            TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext templateContext = getTemplateContext(request.templateSource());
+            executable = this.scriptService.executable("mustache", templateContext.template(), templateContext.scriptType(), templateContext.params());
+        }
 
-            try {
-                parser = XContentFactory.xContent(request.templateSource()).createParser(request.templateSource());
-                templateContext = TemplateQueryParser.parse(parser, "params", "template");
+        BytesReference processedQuery = (BytesReference) executable.run();
+        request.source(processedQuery);
+    }
 
-                if (templateContext.scriptType().equals(ScriptService.ScriptType.INLINE)) {
-                    //Try to double parse for nested template id/file
-                    parser = null;
-                    try {
-                        byte[] templateBytes = templateContext.template().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
-                        parser = XContentFactory.xContent(templateBytes).createParser(templateBytes);
-                    } catch (ElasticsearchParseException epe) {
-                        //This was an non-nested template, the parse failure was due to this, it is safe to assume this refers to a file
-                        //for backwards compatibility and keep going
-                        templateContext = new TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext(ScriptService.ScriptType.FILE, templateContext.template(), templateContext.params());
-                    }
-                    if (parser != null) {
-                        TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext innerContext = TemplateQueryParser.parse(parser, "params");
-                        if (hasLength(innerContext.template()) && !innerContext.scriptType().equals(ScriptService.ScriptType.INLINE)) {
-                            //An inner template referring to a filename or id
-                            templateContext = new TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext(innerContext.scriptType(), innerContext.template(), templateContext.params());
-                        }
+    public static TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext getTemplateContext(BytesReference templateSource) {
+        XContentParser parser = null;
+        TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext templateContext = null;
+
+        try {
+            parser = XContentFactory.xContent(templateSource).createParser(templateSource);
+            templateContext = TemplateQueryParser.parse(parser, "params", "template");
+
+            if (templateContext.scriptType().equals(ScriptService.ScriptType.INLINE)) {
+                //Try to double parse for nested template id/file
+                parser = null;
+                try {
+                    byte[] templateBytes = templateContext.template().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
+                    parser = XContentFactory.xContent(templateBytes).createParser(templateBytes);
+                } catch (ElasticsearchParseException epe) {
+                    //This was an non-nested template, the parse failure was due to this, it is safe to assume this refers to a file
+                    //for backwards compatibility and keep going
+                    templateContext = new TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext(ScriptService.ScriptType.FILE, templateContext.template(), templateContext.params());
+                }
+                if (parser != null) {
+                    TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext innerContext = TemplateQueryParser.parse(parser, "params");
+                    if (hasLength(innerContext.template()) && !innerContext.scriptType().equals(ScriptService.ScriptType.INLINE)) {
+                        //An inner template referring to a filename or id
+                        templateContext = new TemplateQueryParser.TemplateContext(innerContext.scriptType(), innerContext.template(), templateContext.params());
                     }
                 }
-            } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new ElasticsearchParseException("Failed to parse template", e);
-            } finally {
-                Releasables.closeWhileHandlingException(parser);
-            }
-
-            if (templateContext == null || !hasLength(templateContext.template())) {
-                throw new ElasticsearchParseException("Template must have [template] field configured");
             }
-            executable = this.scriptService.executable("mustache", templateContext.template(), templateContext.scriptType(), templateContext.params());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new ElasticsearchParseException("Failed to parse template", e);
+        } finally {
+            Releasables.closeWhileHandlingException(parser);
         }
 
-        BytesReference processedQuery = (BytesReference) executable.run();
-        request.source(processedQuery);
+        if (templateContext == null || !hasLength(templateContext.template())) {
+            throw new ElasticsearchParseException("Template must have [template] field configured");
+        }
+        return templateContext;
     }
 
     private void parseSource(SearchContext context, BytesReference source) throws SearchParseException {