diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/27376-cache-default-branch-pipeline-on-project.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/27376-cache-default-branch-pipeline-on-project.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a116c68ad87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/27376-cache-default-branch-pipeline-on-project.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: Speed up project dashboard by caching pipeline status and eager loading routes
+merge_request: 9903
+author:
diff --git a/spec/features/dashboard/projects_spec.rb b/spec/features/dashboard/projects_spec.rb
index 63eb5c697c2..c4e58d14f75 100644
--- a/spec/features/dashboard/projects_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/dashboard/projects_spec.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,32 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 RSpec.describe 'Dashboard Projects', feature: true do
+  let(:user) { create(:user) }
+  let(:project) { create(:project, name: "awesome stuff") }
+
   before do
-    login_as(create :user)
+    project.team << [user, :developer]
+    login_as user
     visit dashboard_projects_path
   end
-  
+
+  it 'shows the project the user in a member of in the list' do
+    visit dashboard_projects_path
+    expect(page).to have_content('awesome stuff')
+  end
+
+  describe "with a pipeline" do
+    let(:pipeline) {  create(:ci_pipeline, :success, project: project, sha: project.commit.sha) }
+
+    before do
+      pipeline
+    end
+
+    it 'shows that the last pipeline passed' do
+      visit dashboard_projects_path
+      expect(page).to have_xpath("//a[@href='#{pipelines_namespace_project_commit_path(project.namespace, project, project.commit)}']")
+    end
+  end
+
   it_behaves_like "an autodiscoverable RSS feed with current_user's private token"
 end