diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a9f7af30b..37aefaada 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ The types of changes are:
 * Parallelize CI safe checks to reduce run time [#717](https://github.com/ethyca/fidesops/pull/717)
 * Add dependabot to keep dependencies up to date [#718](https://github.com/ethyca/fidesops/pull/718)
 
+* Make running a worker node optional [#770](https://github.com/ethyca/fidesops/pull/770)
+
 ### Changed
 * Base64 encode passwords on frontend [#749](https://github.com/ethyca/fidesops/pull/749)
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5b2fed274..b87535201 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ reset-db:
 server: compose-build
 	@docker-compose up
 
+server-with-worker: compose-build
+	@docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.worker.yml up
+
 server-no-db: compose-build
 	@docker-compose -f docker-compose.no-db.yml up
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.worker.yml b/docker-compose.worker.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c507e1499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.worker.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+services:
+  webserver:
+    depends_on:
+      - worker
+    environment:
+      - FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__WORKER_ENABLED=True
+
+  worker:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.worker
+    command: fidesops worker
+    depends_on:
+      redis:
+        condition: service_started
+    restart: always
+    volumes:
+      - type: bind
+        source: ./
+        target: /fidesops
+        read_only: False
+      - /fidesops/src/fidesops.egg-info
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 1f40bab40..a00967dcb 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ services:
       context: .
       dockerfile: Dockerfile.app
     depends_on:
-      - worker
       - db
       - redis
     expose:
@@ -29,6 +28,7 @@ services:
       - FIDESOPS__LOG_PII=${FIDESOPS__LOG_PII}
       - FIDESOPS__HOT_RELOAD=${FIDESOPS__HOT_RELOAD}
       - FIDESOPS__ROOT_USER__ANALYTICS_ID=${FIDESOPS__ROOT_USER__ANALYTICS_ID}
+      - FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__WORKER_ENABLED=False
 
   db:
     image: postgres:12
@@ -59,22 +59,6 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "0.0.0.0:6379:6379"
 
-  worker:
-    build:
-      context: .
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile.worker
-    command: fidesops worker
-    depends_on:
-      redis:
-        condition: service_started
-    restart: always
-    volumes:
-      - type: bind
-        source: ./
-        target: /fidesops
-        read_only: False
-      - /fidesops/src/fidesops.egg-info
-
   docs:
     build:
       context: docs/fidesops/
diff --git a/docs/fidesops/docs/guides/configuration_reference.md b/docs/fidesops/docs/guides/configuration_reference.md
index 1b28cce0c..a41ad68da 100644
--- a/docs/fidesops/docs/guides/configuration_reference.md
+++ b/docs/fidesops/docs/guides/configuration_reference.md
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ The `fidesops.toml` file should specify the following variables:
 |`TASK_RETRY_BACKOFF` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__TASK_RETRY_BACKOFF` | int | 2 | 1 | The backoff factor for retries, to space out repeated retries.
 |`REQUIRE_MANUAL_REQUEST_APPROVAL` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__REQUIRE_MANUAL_REQUEST_APPROVAL` | bool | False | False | Whether privacy requests require explicit approval to execute
 |`MASKING_STRICT` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__MASKING_STRICT` | bool | True | True | If MASKING_STRICT is True, we only use "update" requests to mask data. (For third-party integrations, you should define an `update` endpoint to use.)  If MASKING_STRICT is False, you are allowing fidesops to use any defined DELETE or GDPR DELETE endpoints to remove PII. In this case, you should define `delete` or `data_protection_request` endpoints for your third-party integrations.  Note that setting MASKING_STRICT to False means that data may be deleted beyond the specific data categories that you've configured in your Policy.
+|`CELERY_BROKER_URL` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__CELERY_BROKER_URL` | str | redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1 | N/A | The datastore to maintain ordered queues of tasks.
+|`CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__RESULT_BACKEND` | str | redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1 | N/A | The datastore to put results from asynchronously processed tasks.
+|`WORKER_ENABLED` | `FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__WORKER_ENABLED` | bool | True | True | Whether Fidesops is running with a dedicated worker to process privacy requests asynchronously.
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |`ANALYTICS_OPT_OUT` | `FIDESOPS__USER__ANALYTICS_OPT_OUT` | bool | False | False | Opt out of sending anonymous usage data to Ethyca to improve the product experience
 | Admin UI Variables|---|---|---|---|---|
@@ -98,6 +101,10 @@ TASK_RETRY_DELAY=20
 TASK_RETRY_BACKOFF=2
 REQUIRE_MANUAL_REQUEST_APPROVAL=true
 MASKING_STRICT=true
+CELERY_BROKER_URL="redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1"
+CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND="redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1"
+WORKER_ENABLED=true
+
 
 [root_user]
 ANALYTICS_OPT_OUT=false
diff --git a/fidesops.toml b/fidesops.toml
index d9c17c75c..1ce87750c 100644
--- a/fidesops.toml
+++ b/fidesops.toml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ REQUIRE_MANUAL_REQUEST_APPROVAL = false
 TASK_RETRY_COUNT = 0
 TASK_RETRY_DELAY = 1
 TASK_RETRY_BACKOFF = 1
+WORKER_ENABLED = false
 
 [root_user]
 ANALYTICS_OPT_OUT = false
diff --git a/src/fidesops/core/config.py b/src/fidesops/core/config.py
index 369f5ad30..eab986ea8 100644
--- a/src/fidesops/core/config.py
+++ b/src/fidesops/core/config.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class ExecutionSettings(FidesSettings):
     MASKING_STRICT: bool = True
     CELERY_BROKER_URL: str = "redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1"
     CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND: str = "redis://:testpassword@redis:6379/1"
+    WORKER_ENABLED: bool = True
 
     class Config:
         env_prefix = "FIDESOPS__EXECUTION__"
diff --git a/src/fidesops/main.py b/src/fidesops/main.py
index 0caa1af2f..271e17676 100644
--- a/src/fidesops/main.py
+++ b/src/fidesops/main.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+import subprocess
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Callable, Optional
@@ -179,6 +180,10 @@ def start_webserver() -> None:
         )
     )
 
+    if not config.execution.WORKER_ENABLED:
+        logger.info("Starting worker...")
+        subprocess.Popen(["fidesops", "worker"])
+
     logger.info("Starting web server...")
     uvicorn.run(
         "fidesops.main:app",