diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/CHANGELOG.md b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/CHANGELOG.md
index 277efc4fae28..17d380456670 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ CHANGELOG
  * added `HeaderUtils::parseQuery()`: it does the same as `parse_str()` but preserves dots in variable names
  * added `File::getContent()`
  * added ability to use comma separated ip addresses for `RequestMatcher::matchIps()`
+ * added `Request::toArray()` to parse a JSON request body to an array
  * added `RateLimiter\RequestRateLimiterInterface` and `RateLimiter\AbstractRequestRateLimiter`
 
 5.1.0
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Exception/JsonException.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Exception/JsonException.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5990e760e6d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Exception/JsonException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception;
+
+/**
+ * Thrown by Request::toArray() when the content cannot be JSON-decoded.
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Nyholm <tobias.nyholm@gmail.com>
+ */
+final class JsonException extends \UnexpectedValueException implements RequestExceptionInterface
+{
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Request.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Request.php
index 7c59428b7546..286c329614ed 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Request.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Request.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 namespace Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation;
 
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception\ConflictingHeadersException;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception\JsonException;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception\SuspiciousOperationException;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\SessionInterface;
 
@@ -1569,6 +1570,34 @@ public function getContent(bool $asResource = false)
         return $this->content;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the request body decoded as array, typically from a JSON payload.
+     *
+     * @throws JsonException When the body cannot be decoded to an array
+     */
+    public function toArray(): array
+    {
+        if ('' === $content = $this->getContent()) {
+            throw new JsonException('Response body is empty.');
+        }
+
+        try {
+            $content = json_decode($content, true, 512, \JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING | (\PHP_VERSION_ID >= 70300 ? \JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR : 0));
+        } catch (\JsonException $e) {
+            throw new JsonException('Could not decode request body.', $e->getCode(), $e);
+        }
+
+        if (\PHP_VERSION_ID < 70300 && \JSON_ERROR_NONE !== json_last_error()) {
+            throw new JsonException('Could not decode request body: '.json_last_error_msg(), json_last_error());
+        }
+
+        if (!\is_array($content)) {
+            throw new JsonException(sprintf('JSON content was expected to decode to an array, "%s" returned.', get_debug_type($content)));
+        }
+
+        return $content;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets the Etags.
      *
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/RequestTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/RequestTest.php
index 358d2b140adf..5d466afe25f8 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/RequestTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/RequestTest.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 namespace Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Tests;
 
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception\JsonException;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Exception\SuspiciousOperationException;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\InputBag;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\ParameterBag;
@@ -1250,6 +1251,30 @@ public function provideOverloadedMethods()
         ];
     }
 
+    public function testToArrayEmpty()
+    {
+        $req = new Request();
+        $this->expectException(JsonException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Response body is empty.');
+        $req->toArray();
+    }
+
+    public function testToArrayNonJson()
+    {
+        $req = new Request([], [], [], [], [], [], 'foobar');
+        $this->expectException(JsonException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessageMatches('|Could not decode request body.+|');
+        $req->toArray();
+    }
+
+    public function testToArray()
+    {
+        $req = new Request([], [], [], [], [], [], json_encode([]));
+        $this->assertEquals([], $req->toArray());
+        $req = new Request([], [], [], [], [], [], json_encode(['foo' => 'bar']));
+        $this->assertEquals(['foo' => 'bar'], $req->toArray());
+    }
+
     /**
      * @dataProvider provideOverloadedMethods
      */