diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/scan/mod.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/scan/mod.rs
index c055c12c9a..38a138f273 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/scan/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/scan/mod.rs
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use arrow_array::RecordBatch;
 use futures::channel::mpsc::{Sender, channel};
-use futures::stream::BoxStream;
-use futures::{SinkExt, StreamExt, TryStreamExt};
+use futures::stream::{self, BoxStream};
+use futures::{SinkExt, StreamExt, TryStreamExt, future};
 pub use task::*;
 
 use crate::arrow::ArrowReaderBuilder;
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ pub struct TableScanBuilder<'a> {
     concurrency_limit_manifest_files: usize,
     row_group_filtering_enabled: bool,
     row_selection_enabled: bool,
+    minimum_reader_tasks: usize,
 }
 
 impl<'a> TableScanBuilder<'a> {
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ impl<'a> TableScanBuilder<'a> {
             concurrency_limit_manifest_files: num_cpus,
             row_group_filtering_enabled: true,
             row_selection_enabled: false,
+            minimum_reader_tasks: 0,
         }
     }
 
@@ -146,6 +148,14 @@ impl<'a> TableScanBuilder<'a> {
         self
     }
 
+    /// Sets the minimum reader tasks limit for this scan
+    /// When enabled, files are read in parallel chunks of size
+    /// no less than this limit, to keep each cpu busy.
+    pub fn with_minimum_reader_tasks(mut self, limit: usize) -> Self {
+        self.minimum_reader_tasks = limit;
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Sets the manifest entry concurrency limit for this scan
     pub fn with_manifest_entry_concurrency_limit(mut self, limit: usize) -> Self {
         self.concurrency_limit_manifest_entries = limit;
@@ -210,6 +220,7 @@ impl<'a> TableScanBuilder<'a> {
                         concurrency_limit_manifest_files: self.concurrency_limit_manifest_files,
                         row_group_filtering_enabled: self.row_group_filtering_enabled,
                         row_selection_enabled: self.row_selection_enabled,
+                        minimum_reader_tasks: self.minimum_reader_tasks,
                     });
                 };
                 current_snapshot_id.clone()
@@ -303,6 +314,7 @@ impl<'a> TableScanBuilder<'a> {
             concurrency_limit_manifest_files: self.concurrency_limit_manifest_files,
             row_group_filtering_enabled: self.row_group_filtering_enabled,
             row_selection_enabled: self.row_selection_enabled,
+            minimum_reader_tasks: 0,
         })
     }
 }
@@ -329,6 +341,11 @@ pub struct TableScan {
     /// be processed in parallel
     concurrency_limit_data_files: usize,
 
+    /// The minimum number of [`ManifestEntry`]s that will
+    /// be processed in parallel. If specified, new tasks
+    /// will be spawned to read files in parallel
+    minimum_reader_tasks: usize,
+
     row_group_filtering_enabled: bool,
     row_selection_enabled: bool,
 }
@@ -430,18 +447,43 @@ impl TableScan {
         Ok(file_scan_task_rx.boxed())
     }
 
-    /// Returns an [`ArrowRecordBatchStream`].
-    pub async fn to_arrow(&self) -> Result<ArrowRecordBatchStream> {
+    fn arrow_reader(&self) -> crate::arrow::ArrowReader {
         let mut arrow_reader_builder = ArrowReaderBuilder::new(self.file_io.clone())
             .with_data_file_concurrency_limit(self.concurrency_limit_data_files)
             .with_row_group_filtering_enabled(self.row_group_filtering_enabled)
             .with_row_selection_enabled(self.row_selection_enabled);
-
         if let Some(batch_size) = self.batch_size {
             arrow_reader_builder = arrow_reader_builder.with_batch_size(batch_size);
         }
+        arrow_reader_builder.build()
+    }
+
+    /// Returns an [`ArrowRecordBatchStream`].
+    pub async fn to_arrow(&self) -> Result<ArrowRecordBatchStream> {
+        let plan_files = self.plan_files().await?;
 
-        arrow_reader_builder.build().read(self.plan_files().await?)
+        if self.minimum_reader_tasks == 0 {
+            self.arrow_reader().read(plan_files)
+        } else {
+            // spawn chunks into their own tasks for parallelism
+            let files: Vec<_> = plan_files.try_collect().await?;
+            let workers = std::thread::available_parallelism().map_or(4, |p| p.get());
+            let chunk_size = files.len().div_ceil(workers).max(self.minimum_reader_tasks);
+            let futs = files.chunks(chunk_size).map(|chunk| {
+                #[allow(clippy::unnecessary_to_owned)]
+                let tasks = stream::iter(chunk.to_vec().into_iter().map(Ok));
+                let reader = self.arrow_reader();
+                tokio::spawn(async move { reader.read(Box::pin(tasks) as _) })
+            });
+
+            let record_streams = future::try_join_all(futs)
+                .await
+                .map_err(|e| Error::new(ErrorKind::Unexpected, e.to_string()))?
+                .into_iter()
+                .collect::<Result<Vec<_>>>()?;
+            let stream = stream::iter(record_streams.into_iter()).flatten();
+            Ok(Box::pin(stream) as ArrowRecordBatchStream)
+        }
     }
 
     /// Returns a reference to the column names of the table scan.
@@ -2254,4 +2296,29 @@ pub mod tests {
         // Assert it finished (didn't timeout)
         assert!(result.is_ok(), "Scan timed out - deadlock detected");
     }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_minimum_reader_task() {
+        let mut fixture = TableTestFixture::new();
+        fixture.setup_manifest_files().await;
+
+        // Create table scan for with no minimum task reader (e.g. on the same task)
+        let sync_table_scan = fixture.table.clone().scan().build().unwrap();
+        let sync_batch_stream = sync_table_scan.to_arrow().await.unwrap();
+        let sync_batches: Vec<_> = sync_batch_stream.try_collect().await.unwrap();
+
+        // Create table scan for 4 minimum tasks (e.g. on the same task)
+        let parallel_table_scan = fixture
+            .table
+            .scan()
+            .with_minimum_reader_tasks(4)
+            .build()
+            .unwrap();
+        let parallel_batch_stream = parallel_table_scan.to_arrow().await.unwrap();
+        let parallel_batches: Vec<_> = parallel_batch_stream.try_collect().await.unwrap();
+
+        for (sync, par) in sync_batches.into_iter().zip(parallel_batches) {
+            assert_eq!(sync, par);
+        }
+    }
 }