diff --git a/e2e/node/src/node-esbuild.test.ts b/e2e/node/src/node-esbuild.test.ts
index e98d7e71df..9a31903859 100644
--- a/e2e/node/src/node-esbuild.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/src/node-esbuild.test.ts
@@ -6,20 +6,21 @@ import {
   promisifiedTreeKill,
   readFile,
   runCLI,
-  runCLIAsync,
   runCommandUntil,
   setMaxWorkers,
-  tmpProjPath,
   uniq,
   updateFile,
 } from '@nx/e2e/utils';
-import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import { join } from 'path';
 
 describe('Node Applications + esbuild', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => newProject());
+  beforeAll(() =>
+    newProject({
+      packages: ['@nx/node'],
+    })
+  );
 
-  afterEach(() => cleanupProject());
+  afterAll(() => cleanupProject());
 
   it('should generate an app using esbuild', async () => {
     const app = uniq('nodeapp');
diff --git a/e2e/node/src/node-server.test.ts b/e2e/node/src/node-server.test.ts
index c23a0b56ba..81b9ff2ebc 100644
--- a/e2e/node/src/node-server.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/src/node-server.test.ts
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@ import { join } from 'path';
 
 describe('Node Applications + webpack', () => {
   let proj: string;
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    proj = newProject();
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    proj = newProject({
+      packages: ['@nx/node'],
+    });
   });
 
-  afterEach(() => cleanupProject());
+  afterAll(() => cleanupProject());
 
   function addLibImport(appName: string, libName: string, importPath?: string) {
     const content = readFile(`apps/${appName}/src/main.ts`);
diff --git a/e2e/node/src/node-webpack.test.ts b/e2e/node/src/node-webpack.test.ts
index e05fb46cc8..faf12d7114 100644
--- a/e2e/node/src/node-webpack.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/src/node-webpack.test.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,13 @@ import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import { join } from 'path';
 
 describe('Node Applications + webpack', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => newProject());
+  beforeAll(() =>
+    newProject({
+      packages: ['@nx/node'],
+    })
+  );
 
-  afterEach(() => cleanupProject());
+  afterAll(() => cleanupProject());
 
   it('should generate an app using webpack', async () => {
     const app = uniq('nodeapp');
diff --git a/e2e/node/src/node.test.ts b/e2e/node/src/node.test.ts
index 8270aecf11..4a2d2baf45 100644
--- a/e2e/node/src/node.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/src/node.test.ts
@@ -50,9 +50,13 @@ function getData(port, path = '/api'): Promise<any> {
 }
 
 describe('Node Applications', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => newProject());
+  beforeAll(() =>
+    newProject({
+      packages: ['@nx/node', '@nx/express', '@nx/nest'],
+    })
+  );
 
-  afterEach(() => cleanupProject());
+  afterAll(() => cleanupProject());
 
   it('should be able to generate an empty application', async () => {
     const nodeapp = uniq('nodeapp');
@@ -331,12 +335,16 @@ describe('Node Applications', () => {
 });
 
 describe('Build Node apps', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => newProject());
+  let scope: string;
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    scope = newProject({
+      packages: ['@nx/node', '@nx/express', '@nx/nest'],
+    });
+  });
 
-  afterEach(() => cleanupProject());
+  afterAll(() => cleanupProject());
 
   it('should generate a package.json with the `--generatePackageJson` flag', async () => {
-    const scope = newProject();
     const packageManager = detectPackageManager(tmpProjPath());
     const nestapp = uniq('nestapp');
     runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:app ${nestapp} --linter=eslint`);
@@ -523,7 +531,6 @@ ${jslib}();
 
   describe('NestJS', () => {
     it('should have plugin output if specified in `tsPlugins`', async () => {
-      newProject();
       const nestapp = uniq('nestapp');
       runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:app ${nestapp} --linter=eslint`);
       setMaxWorkers(join('apps', nestapp, 'project.json'));
@@ -576,99 +583,95 @@ ${jslib}();
       expect(mainJs).toContain('_OPENAPI_METADATA_FACTORY');
     }, 300000);
   });
-});
 
-describe('nest libraries', function () {
-  beforeEach(() => newProject());
+  describe('nest libraries', function () {
+    it('should be able to generate a nest library', async () => {
+      const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
+      runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib}`);
 
-  it('should be able to generate a nest library', async () => {
-    const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
-    runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib}`);
+      const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
 
-    const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
+      const testResults = runCLI(`test ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(testResults).toContain(
+        `Successfully ran target test for project ${nestlib}`
+      );
+    }, 60000);
 
-    const testResults = runCLI(`test ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(testResults).toContain(
-      `Successfully ran target test for project ${nestlib}`
-    );
-  }, 60000);
+    it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ service', async () => {
+      const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
 
-  it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ service', async () => {
-    const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
+      runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --service`);
 
-    runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --service`);
+      const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
 
-    const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
+      const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
+        'Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total'
+      );
+    }, 200000);
 
-    const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
-      'Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total'
-    );
-  }, 200000);
+    it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ controller', async () => {
+      const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
 
-  it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ controller', async () => {
-    const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
+      runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --controller`);
 
-    runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --controller`);
+      const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
 
-    const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
+      const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
+        'Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total'
+      );
+    }, 200000);
 
-    const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
-      'Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total'
-    );
-  }, 200000);
+    it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ controller and service', async () => {
+      const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
 
-  it('should be able to generate a nest library w/ controller and service', async () => {
-    const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
+      runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --controller --service`);
 
-    runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --controller --service`);
+      const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
 
-    const lintResults = runCLI(`lint ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(lintResults).toContain('All files pass linting.');
+      const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
+      expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
+        'Test Suites: 2 passed, 2 total'
+      );
+    }, 200000);
 
-    const jestResult = await runCLIAsync(`test ${nestlib}`);
-    expect(jestResult.combinedOutput).toContain(
-      'Test Suites: 2 passed, 2 total'
-    );
-  }, 200000);
+    it('should have plugin output if specified in `transformers`', async () => {
+      const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
+      runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --buildable`);
 
-  it('should have plugin output if specified in `transformers`', async () => {
-    newProject();
-    const nestlib = uniq('nestlib');
-    runCLI(`generate @nx/nest:lib ${nestlib} --buildable`);
+      packageInstall('@nestjs/swagger', undefined, '^7.0.0');
 
-    packageInstall('@nestjs/swagger', undefined, '^7.0.0');
-
-    updateJson(join('libs', nestlib, 'project.json'), (config) => {
-      config.targets.build.options.transformers = [
-        {
-          name: '@nestjs/swagger/plugin',
-          options: {
-            dtoFileNameSuffix: ['.model.ts'],
+      updateJson(join('libs', nestlib, 'project.json'), (config) => {
+        config.targets.build.options.transformers = [
+          {
+            name: '@nestjs/swagger/plugin',
+            options: {
+              dtoFileNameSuffix: ['.model.ts'],
+            },
           },
-        },
-      ];
-      return config;
-    });
+        ];
+        return config;
+      });
 
-    updateFile(
-      `libs/${nestlib}/src/lib/foo.model.ts`,
-      `
+      updateFile(
+        `libs/${nestlib}/src/lib/foo.model.ts`,
+        `
 export class FooModel {
   foo?: string;
   bar?: number;
 }`
-    );
+      );
 
-    await runCLIAsync(`build ${nestlib}`);
+      await runCLIAsync(`build ${nestlib}`);
 
-    const fooModelJs = readFile(`dist/libs/${nestlib}/src/lib/foo.model.js`);
-    expect(stripIndents`${fooModelJs}`).toContain(
-      stripIndents`
+      const fooModelJs = readFile(`dist/libs/${nestlib}/src/lib/foo.model.js`);
+      expect(stripIndents`${fooModelJs}`).toContain(
+        stripIndents`
 "use strict";
 Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", { value: true });
 exports.FooModel = void 0;
@@ -681,10 +684,11 @@ class FooModel {
 exports.FooModel = FooModel;
 //# sourceMappingURL=foo.model.js.map
         `
-    );
-  }, 300000);
+      );
+    }, 300000);
 
-  it('should run default jest tests', async () => {
-    await expectJestTestsToPass('@nx/node:lib');
-  }, 100000);
+    it('should run default jest tests', async () => {
+      await expectJestTestsToPass('@nx/node:lib');
+    }, 100000);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/e2e/utils/create-project-utils.ts b/e2e/utils/create-project-utils.ts
index ba434e9fbd..446d4e0bb6 100644
--- a/e2e/utils/create-project-utils.ts
+++ b/e2e/utils/create-project-utils.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { angularCliVersion as defaultAngularCliVersion } from '@nx/workspace/src
 import { dump } from '@zkochan/js-yaml';
 import { execSync, ExecSyncOptions } from 'child_process';
 
+import { performance, PerformanceMeasure } from 'perf_hooks';
 import { logError, logInfo } from './log-utils';
 import {
   getPackageManagerCommand,
@@ -28,13 +29,41 @@ import {
   RunCmdOpts,
   runCommand,
 } from './command-utils';
-import { NxJsonConfiguration, output } from '@nx/devkit';
+import { output } from '@nx/devkit';
 import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { resetWorkspaceContext } from 'nx/src/utils/workspace-context';
 
 let projName: string;
 
+// TODO(jack): we should tag the projects (e.g. tags: ['package']) and filter from that rather than hard-code packages.
+const nxPackages = [
+  `@nx/angular`,
+  `@nx/eslint-plugin`,
+  `@nx/express`,
+  `@nx/esbuild`,
+  `@nx/jest`,
+  `@nx/js`,
+  `@nx/eslint`,
+  `@nx/nest`,
+  `@nx/next`,
+  `@nx/node`,
+  `@nx/nuxt`,
+  `@nx/plugin`,
+  `@nx/playwright`,
+  `@nx/rollup`,
+  `@nx/react`,
+  `@nx/storybook`,
+  `@nx/vue`,
+  `@nx/vite`,
+  `@nx/web`,
+  `@nx/webpack`,
+  `@nx/react-native`,
+  `@nx/expo`,
+] as const;
+
+type NxPackage = typeof nxPackages[number];
+
 /**
  * Sets up a new project in the temporary project path
  * for the currently selected CLI.
@@ -43,15 +72,34 @@ export function newProject({
   name = uniq('proj'),
   packageManager = getSelectedPackageManager(),
   unsetProjectNameAndRootFormat = true,
+  packages,
+}: {
+  name?: string;
+  packageManager?: 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm';
+  unsetProjectNameAndRootFormat?: boolean;
+  readonly packages?: Array<NxPackage>;
 } = {}): string {
+  const newProjectStart = performance.mark('new-project:start');
   try {
     const projScope = 'proj';
 
+    let createNxWorkspaceMeasure: PerformanceMeasure;
+    let packageInstallMeasure: PerformanceMeasure;
+
     if (!directoryExists(tmpBackupProjPath())) {
+      const createNxWorkspaceStart = performance.mark(
+        'create-nx-workspace:start'
+      );
       runCreateWorkspace(projScope, {
         preset: 'apps',
         packageManager,
       });
+      const createNxWorkspaceEnd = performance.mark('create-nx-workspace:end');
+      createNxWorkspaceMeasure = performance.measure(
+        'create-nx-workspace',
+        createNxWorkspaceStart.name,
+        createNxWorkspaceEnd.name
+      );
 
       if (unsetProjectNameAndRootFormat) {
         console.warn(
@@ -69,33 +117,19 @@ export function newProject({
         );
       }
 
-      // TODO(jack): we should tag the projects (e.g. tags: ['package']) and filter from that rather than hard-code packages.
-      const packages = [
-        `@nx/angular`,
-        `@nx/eslint-plugin`,
-        `@nx/express`,
-        `@nx/esbuild`,
-        `@nx/jest`,
-        `@nx/js`,
-        `@nx/eslint`,
-        `@nx/nest`,
-        `@nx/next`,
-        `@nx/node`,
-        `@nx/nuxt`,
-        `@nx/plugin`,
-        `@nx/playwright`,
-        `@nx/rollup`,
-        `@nx/react`,
-        `@nx/storybook`,
-        `@nx/vue`,
-        `@nx/vite`,
-        `@nx/web`,
-        `@nx/webpack`,
-        `@nx/react-native`,
-        `@nx/expo`,
-      ];
-      packageInstall(packages.join(` `), projScope);
-
+      if (!packages) {
+        console.warn(
+          'ATTENTION: All packages are installed into the new workspace. To make this test faster, please pass the subset of packages that this test needs by passing a packages array in the options'
+        );
+      }
+      const packageInstallStart = performance.mark('packageInstall:start');
+      packageInstall((packages ?? nxPackages).join(` `), projScope);
+      const packageInstallEnd = performance.mark('packageInstall:end');
+      packageInstallMeasure = performance.measure(
+        'packageInstall',
+        packageInstallStart.name,
+        packageInstallEnd.name
+      );
       // stop the daemon
       execSync(`${getPackageManagerCommand().runNx} reset`, {
         cwd: `${e2eCwd}/proj`,
@@ -105,19 +139,55 @@ export function newProject({
       moveSync(`${e2eCwd}/proj`, `${tmpBackupProjPath()}`);
     }
     projName = name;
-    copySync(`${tmpBackupProjPath()}`, `${tmpProjPath()}`);
-    if (isVerbose()) {
-      logInfo(`NX`, `E2E created a project: ${tmpProjPath()}`);
-    }
 
+    const projectDirectory = tmpProjPath();
+    copySync(`${tmpBackupProjPath()}`, `${projectDirectory}`);
+
+    // TODO: What is this for?
     if (packageManager === 'pnpm') {
       execSync(getPackageManagerCommand().install, {
-        cwd: tmpProjPath(),
+        cwd: projectDirectory,
         stdio: 'pipe',
         env: { CI: 'true', ...process.env },
         encoding: 'utf-8',
       });
     }
+
+    const newProjectEnd = performance.mark('new-project:end');
+    const perfMeasure = performance.measure(
+      'newProject',
+      newProjectStart.name,
+      newProjectEnd.name
+    );
+
+    if (isVerbose()) {
+      logInfo(
+        `NX`,
+        `E2E created a project: ${projectDirectory} in ${
+          perfMeasure.duration / 1000
+        } seconds
+${
+  createNxWorkspaceMeasure
+    ? `create-nx-workspace: ${
+        createNxWorkspaceMeasure.duration / 1000
+      } seconds\n`
+    : ''
+}${
+          packageInstallMeasure
+            ? `packageInstall: ${
+                packageInstallMeasure.duration / 1000
+              } seconds\n`
+            : ''
+        }`
+      );
+    }
+
+    if (process.env.NX_E2E_EDITOR) {
+      const editor = process.env.NX_E2E_EDITOR;
+      execSync(`${editor} ${projectDirectory}`, {
+        stdio: 'inherit',
+      });
+    }
     return projScope;
   } catch (e) {
     logError(`Failed to set up project for e2e tests.`, e.message);