diff --git a/docusaurus/docs/custom-templates.md b/docusaurus/docs/custom-templates.md
index 98acb9b1a75..bab1c54a00d 100644
--- a/docusaurus/docs/custom-templates.md
+++ b/docusaurus/docs/custom-templates.md
@@ -58,18 +58,31 @@ You can add whatever files you want in here, but you must have at least the file
 
 ### The `template.json` file
 
-This is where you can define dependencies (only dependencies are supported for now), as well as any custom scripts that your template relies on.
+This is the configuration file for your template. As this is a new feature, more options will be added over time. For now, only a `package` key is supported.
+
+The `package` key lets you provide any keys/values that you want added to the new project's `package.json`, such as dependencies (only dependencies are supported for now) and any custom scripts that your template relies on.
+
+Below is an example `template.json` file:
 
 ```json
 {
-  "dependencies": {
-    "serve": "^11.2.0"
-  },
-  "scripts": {
-    "serve": "serve -s build",
-    "build-and-serve": "npm run build && npm run serve"
+  "package": {
+    "dependencies": {
+      "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "^6.2.3",
+      "serve": "^11.2.0"
+    },
+    "scripts": {
+      "serve": "serve -s build",
+      "build-and-serve": "npm run build && npm run serve"
+    },
+    "eslintConfig": {
+      "extends": ["react-app", "plugin:jsx-a11y/recommended"],
+      "plugins": ["jsx-a11y"]
+    }
   }
 }
 ```
 
+Any values you add for `"dependencies"` and `"scripts"` will be merged with the Create React App defaults. Values for any other keys will be used as-is, replacing any matching Create React App defaults.
+
 For convenience, we always replace `npm run` with `yarn` in your custom `"scripts"`, as well as in your `README` when projects are initialized with yarn.
diff --git a/packages/cra-template-typescript/template.json b/packages/cra-template-typescript/template.json
index 06d73b74130..1bb882699f6 100644
--- a/packages/cra-template-typescript/template.json
+++ b/packages/cra-template-typescript/template.json
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 {
-  "dependencies": {
-    "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
-    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
-    "@testing-library/user-event": "^7.1.2",
-    "@types/node": "^12.0.0",
-    "@types/react": "^16.9.0",
-    "@types/react-dom": "^16.9.0",
-    "@types/jest": "^24.0.0",
-    "typescript": "~3.7.2"
+  "package": {
+    "dependencies": {
+      "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
+      "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
+      "@testing-library/user-event": "^7.1.2",
+      "@types/node": "^12.0.0",
+      "@types/react": "^16.9.0",
+      "@types/react-dom": "^16.9.0",
+      "@types/jest": "^24.0.0",
+      "typescript": "~3.7.2"
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/cra-template/template.json b/packages/cra-template/template.json
index 0cc6ba23920..4c6861dc1f0 100644
--- a/packages/cra-template/template.json
+++ b/packages/cra-template/template.json
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "dependencies": {
-    "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
-    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
-    "@testing-library/user-event": "^7.1.2"
+  "package": {
+    "dependencies": {
+      "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
+      "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
+      "@testing-library/user-event": "^7.1.2"
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/fixtures/kitchensink/template.json b/packages/react-scripts/fixtures/kitchensink/template.json
index 3ba93127c8b..954cb3b2d73 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/fixtures/kitchensink/template.json
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/fixtures/kitchensink/template.json
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 {
-  "dependencies": {
-    "bootstrap": "4.3.1",
-    "jest": "24.9.0",
-    "node-sass": "4.12.0",
-    "normalize.css": "7.0.0",
-    "prop-types": "15.7.2",
-    "test-integrity": "2.0.1"
+  "package": {
+    "dependencies": {
+      "bootstrap": "4.3.1",
+      "jest": "24.9.0",
+      "node-sass": "4.12.0",
+      "normalize.css": "7.0.0",
+      "prop-types": "15.7.2",
+      "test-integrity": "2.0.1"
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
index 74d607b105d..9c78fcfbfb5 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
@@ -118,11 +118,55 @@ module.exports = function(
     templateJson = require(templateJsonPath);
   }
 
+  const templatePackage = templateJson.package || {};
+
+  // Keys to ignore in templatePackage
+  const templatePackageBlacklist = [
+    'name',
+    'version',
+    'description',
+    'keywords',
+    'bugs',
+    'license',
+    'author',
+    'contributors',
+    'files',
+    'main',
+    'browser',
+    'bin',
+    'man',
+    'directories',
+    'repository',
+    'devDependencies',
+    'peerDependencies',
+    'bundledDependencies',
+    'optionalDependencies',
+    'engineStrict',
+    'os',
+    'cpu',
+    'preferGlobal',
+    'private',
+    'publishConfig',
+  ];
+
+  // Keys from templatePackage that will be merged with appPackage
+  const templatePackageToMerge = ['dependencies', 'scripts'];
+
+  // Keys from templatePackage that will be added to appPackage,
+  // replacing any existing entries.
+  const templatePackageToReplace = Object.keys(templatePackage).filter(key => {
+    return (
+      !templatePackageBlacklist.includes(key) &&
+      !templatePackageToMerge.includes(key)
+    );
+  });
+
   // Copy over some of the devDependencies
   appPackage.dependencies = appPackage.dependencies || {};
 
   // Setup the script rules
-  const templateScripts = templateJson.scripts || {};
+  // TODO: deprecate 'scripts' key directly on templateJson
+  const templateScripts = templatePackage.scripts || templateJson.scripts || {};
   appPackage.scripts = Object.assign(
     {
       start: 'react-scripts start',
@@ -152,6 +196,11 @@ module.exports = function(
   // Setup the browsers list
   appPackage.browserslist = defaultBrowsers;
 
+  // Add templatePackage keys/values to appPackage, replacing existing entries
+  templatePackageToReplace.forEach(key => {
+    appPackage[key] = templatePackage[key];
+  });
+
   fs.writeFileSync(
     path.join(appPath, 'package.json'),
     JSON.stringify(appPackage, null, 2) + os.EOL
@@ -221,7 +270,9 @@ module.exports = function(
   }
 
   // Install additional template dependencies, if present
-  const templateDependencies = templateJson.dependencies;
+  // TODO: deprecate 'dependencies' key directly on templateJson
+  const templateDependencies =
+    templatePackage.dependencies || templateJson.dependencies;
   if (templateDependencies) {
     args = args.concat(
       Object.keys(templateDependencies).map(key => {