diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9089c7b9..b69ab6e1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog], and this project adheres to
 
 - Test on Ruby 3.3 in the CI build ([#376]).
 
+- Introduce `user_data_file`, `user_data_file_as_lines`, and `include_file`
+  convenience methods to the YAML ERB template compiler ([#377]).
+
 [Unreleased]: https://github.com/envato/stack_master/compare/v2.13.4...HEAD
 [#376]: https://github.com/envato/stack_master/pull/376
+[#377]: https://github.com/envato/stack_master/pull/377
 
 ## [2.13.4] - 2023-08-02
 
diff --git a/lib/stack_master.rb b/lib/stack_master.rb
index ae753c52..bdc16996 100644
--- a/lib/stack_master.rb
+++ b/lib/stack_master.rb
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ module StackMaster
   autoload :TemplateCompiler, 'stack_master/template_compiler'
   autoload :Identity, 'stack_master/identity'
   autoload :CloudFormationInterpolatingEruby, 'stack_master/cloudformation_interpolating_eruby'
+  autoload :CloudFormationTemplateEruby, 'stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby'
 
   autoload :StackDiffer, 'stack_master/stack_differ'
   autoload :Validator, 'stack_master/validator'
diff --git a/lib/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby.rb b/lib/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..50e51161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'erubis'
+require 'json'
+
+module StackMaster
+  # This class is a modified version of `Erubis::Eruby`. It provides extra
+  # helper methods to ease the dynamic creation of CloudFormation templates
+  # with ERB. These helper methods are available within `<%= %>` expressions.
+  class CloudFormationTemplateEruby < Erubis::Eruby
+    # Adds the contents of an EC2 userdata script to the CloudFormation
+    # template. Allows using the ERB `<%= %>` expressions within the user data
+    # script to interpolate CloudFormation values.
+    def user_data_file(filepath)
+      JSON.pretty_generate({ 'Fn::Base64' => { 'Fn::Join' => ['', user_data_file_as_lines(filepath)] } })
+    end
+
+    # Evaluate the ERB template at the specified filepath and return the result
+    # as an array of lines. Allows using ERB `<%= %>` expressions to interpolate
+    # CloudFormation objects into the result.
+    def user_data_file_as_lines(filepath)
+      StackMaster::CloudFormationInterpolatingEruby.evaluate_file(filepath, self)
+    end
+
+    # Add the contents of another file into the CloudFormation template as a
+    # string. ERB `<%= %>` expressions within the referenced file are not
+    # evaluated.
+    def include_file(filepath)
+      JSON.pretty_generate(File.read(filepath))
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/stack_master/template_compilers/yaml_erb.rb b/lib/stack_master/template_compilers/yaml_erb.rb
index 79c0df14..57bed748 100644
--- a/lib/stack_master/template_compilers/yaml_erb.rb
+++ b/lib/stack_master/template_compilers/yaml_erb.rb
@@ -3,13 +3,12 @@
 module StackMaster::TemplateCompilers
   class YamlErb
     def self.require_dependencies
-      require 'erubis'
       require 'yaml'
     end
 
     def self.compile(template_dir, template, compile_time_parameters, _compiler_options = {})
       template_file_path = File.join(template_dir, template)
-      template = Erubis::Eruby.new(File.read(template_file_path))
+      template = StackMaster::CloudFormationTemplateEruby.new(File.read(template_file_path))
       template.filename = template_file_path
 
       template.result(params: compile_time_parameters)
diff --git a/spec/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby_spec.rb b/spec/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..86ac349a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/stack_master/cloudformation_template_eruby_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+RSpec.describe(StackMaster::CloudFormationTemplateEruby) do
+  subject(:evaluate) do
+    eruby = described_class.new(template)
+    eruby.evaluate(eruby)
+  end
+
+  describe('.user_data_file') do
+    context('given a template that loads a simple user data script file') do
+      let(:template) { <<~YAML}
+        Resources:
+          LaunchConfig:
+            Type: 'AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration'
+            Properties:
+              UserData: <%= user_data_file('my/userdata.sh') %>
+      YAML
+
+      before do
+        allow(File).to receive(:read).with('my/userdata.sh').and_return(<<~SHELL)
+          #!/bin/bash
+
+          REGION=ap-southeast-2
+          echo $REGION
+        SHELL
+      end
+
+      it 'embeds the script in the evaluated CFN template' do
+        expect(evaluate).to eq(<<~YAML)
+          Resources:
+            LaunchConfig:
+              Type: 'AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration'
+              Properties:
+                UserData: {
+            "Fn::Base64": {
+              "Fn::Join": [
+                "",
+                [
+                  "#!/bin/bash\\n",
+                  "\\n",
+                  "REGION=ap-southeast-2\\n",
+                  "echo $REGION\\n"
+                ]
+              ]
+            }
+          }
+        YAML
+      end
+    end
+
+    context('given a template that loads a user data script file that includes another file') do
+      let(:template) { <<~YAML}
+        Resources:
+          LaunchConfig:
+            Type: 'AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration'
+            Properties:
+              UserData: <%= user_data_file('my/userdata.sh') %>
+      YAML
+
+      before do
+        allow(File).to receive(:read).with('my/userdata.sh').and_return(<<~SHELL)
+          #!/bin/bash
+          echo 'Hello from userdata.sh'
+          <%= user_data_file_as_lines('my/other.sh') %>
+        SHELL
+        allow(File).to receive(:read).with('my/other.sh').and_return(<<~SHELL)
+          echo 'Hello from other.sh'
+        SHELL
+      end
+
+      it 'embeds the script in the evaluated CFN template' do
+        expect(evaluate).to eq(<<~YAML)
+          Resources:
+            LaunchConfig:
+              Type: 'AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration'
+              Properties:
+                UserData: {
+            "Fn::Base64": {
+              "Fn::Join": [
+                "",
+                [
+                  "#!/bin/bash\\n",
+                  "echo 'Hello from userdata.sh'\\n",
+                  "echo 'Hello from other.sh'\\n",
+                  "\\n"
+                ]
+              ]
+            }
+          }
+        YAML
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe('.include_file') do
+    context('given a template that loads a lambda script') do
+      let(:template) { <<~YAML}
+        Resources:
+          Function:
+            Type: 'AWS::Lambda::Function'
+            Properties:
+              Code:
+                ZipFile: <%= include_file('my/lambda.sh') %>
+      YAML
+
+      before do
+        allow(File).to receive(:read).with('my/lambda.sh').and_return(<<~SHELL)
+          #!/bin/bash
+
+          echo 'Hello, world!'
+        SHELL
+      end
+
+      it 'embeds the script in the evaluated CFN template' do
+        expect(evaluate).to eq(<<~YAML)
+          Resources:
+            Function:
+              Type: 'AWS::Lambda::Function'
+              Properties:
+                Code:
+                  ZipFile: "#!/bin/bash\\n\\necho 'Hello, world!'\\n"
+        YAML
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end