diff --git a/python/packages/autogen-ext/src/autogen_ext/tools/http/_http_tool.py b/python/packages/autogen-ext/src/autogen_ext/tools/http/_http_tool.py
index 8aa1d224d94e..b4bdf891a6ae 100644
--- a/python/packages/autogen-ext/src/autogen_ext/tools/http/_http_tool.py
+++ b/python/packages/autogen-ext/src/autogen_ext/tools/http/_http_tool.py
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ class HttpToolConfig(BaseModel):
     A JSON Schema object defining the expected parameters for the tool.
     Path parameters MUST also be included in the json_schema. They must also MUST be set to string
     """
+    return_type: Optional[Literal["text", "json"]] = "text"
+    """
+    The type of response to return from the tool.
+    """
 
 
 class HttpTool(BaseTool[BaseModel, Any], Component[HttpToolConfig]):
@@ -66,6 +70,8 @@ class HttpTool(BaseTool[BaseModel, Any], Component[HttpToolConfig]):
         headers (dict[str, Any], optional): A dictionary of headers to send with the request.
         json_schema (dict[str, Any]): A JSON Schema object defining the expected parameters for the tool.
             Path parameters must also be included in the schema and must be strings.
+        return_type (Literal["text", "json"], optional): The type of response to return from the tool.
+            Defaults to "text".
 
     Example:
         Simple use case::
@@ -132,6 +138,7 @@ def __init__(
         path: str = "/",
         scheme: Literal["http", "https"] = "http",
         method: Literal["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "PATCH"] = "POST",
+        return_type: Literal["text", "json"] = "text",
     ) -> None:
         self.server_params = HttpToolConfig(
             name=name,
@@ -143,6 +150,7 @@ def __init__(
             method=method,
             headers=headers,
             json_schema=json_schema,
+            return_type=return_type,
         )
 
         # Use regex to find all path parameters, we will need those later to template the path
@@ -208,5 +216,10 @@ async def run(self, args: BaseModel, cancellation_token: CancellationToken) -> A
                 case _:  # Default case POST
                     response = await client.post(url, json=model_dump)
 
-        # TODO: (EItanya): Think about adding the ability to parse the response as JSON, or check a schema
-        return response.text
+        match self.server_params.return_type:
+            case "text":
+                return response.text
+            case "json":
+                return response.json()
+            case _:
+                raise ValueError(f"Invalid return type: {self.server_params.return_type}")
diff --git a/python/packages/autogen-ext/tests/tools/http/test_http_tool.py b/python/packages/autogen-ext/tests/tools/http/test_http_tool.py
index e8055b2bfbf1..defdc9134e2c 100644
--- a/python/packages/autogen-ext/tests/tools/http/test_http_tool.py
+++ b/python/packages/autogen-ext/tests/tools/http/test_http_tool.py
@@ -53,6 +53,18 @@ async def test_post_request(test_config: ComponentModel, test_server: None) -> N
     assert json.loads(result)["result"] == "Received: test query with value 42"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_post_request_json_return(test_config: ComponentModel, test_server: None) -> None:
+    # Modify config to use json return type
+    config = test_config.model_copy()
+    config.config["return_type"] = "json"
+    tool = HttpTool.load_component(config)
+    result = await tool.run_json({"query": "test query", "value": 45}, CancellationToken())
+
+    assert isinstance(result, dict)
+    assert result["result"] == "Received: test query with value 45"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_get_request(test_config: ComponentModel, test_server: None) -> None:
     # Modify config for GET request