diff --git a/cli/internal/cli.go b/cli/internal/cli.go
index 1d32b475..1b07a475 100644
--- a/cli/internal/cli.go
+++ b/cli/internal/cli.go
@@ -19,5 +19,6 @@ var (
 	Minor            bool
 	NoDomainChecks   bool
 	Patch            bool
+	PinDigests       bool
 	ShowUnchanged    bool
 )
diff --git a/cli/recipe/upgrade.go b/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
index 3cac573c..a7e6d6eb 100644
--- a/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
+++ b/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
@@ -293,12 +293,31 @@ interface.`),
 				}
 			}
 			if upgradeTag != "skip" {
-				ok, err := recipe.UpdateTag(image, upgradeTag)
+				var ok bool
+				var err error
+				var resolvedDigest string
+
+				if internal.PinDigests {
+					digest, dErr := client.GetImageDigest(img, upgradeTag)
+					if dErr != nil {
+						log.Fatal(i18n.G("failed to resolve digest for %s:%s: %s", image, upgradeTag, dErr.Error()))
+					}
+					resolvedDigest = digest
+
+					ok, err = recipe.UpdatePinnedTag(image, upgradeTag, digest)
+				} else {
+					ok, err = recipe.UpdateTag(image, upgradeTag)
+				}
+
 				if err != nil {
 					log.Fatal(err)
 				}
 				if ok {
-					log.Info(i18n.G("tag upgraded from %s to %s for %s", tag.String(), upgradeTag, image))
+					if internal.PinDigests {
+						log.Info(i18n.G("tag upgraded and pinned from %s to %s@%s for %s", tag.String(), upgradeTag, resolvedDigest, image))
+					} else {
+						log.Info(i18n.G("tag upgraded from %s to %s for %s", tag.String(), upgradeTag, image))
+					}
 				}
 			} else {
 				if !internal.NoInput {
@@ -417,4 +436,12 @@ func init() {
 		false,
 		i18n.G("commit changes"),
 	)
+
+	RecipeUpgradeCommand.Flags().BoolVarP(
+		&internal.PinDigests,
+		i18n.G("pindigests"),
+		i18n.GC("p", "pin container image by digest"),
+		false,
+		i18n.G("pin the container image version by manifest digest (image:tag@sha256:...)"),
+	)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/recipe/compose.go b/pkg/recipe/compose.go
index f90c5aaa..6e39dc9e 100644
--- a/pkg/recipe/compose.go
+++ b/pkg/recipe/compose.go
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ func (r Recipe) UpdateTag(image, tag string) (bool, error) {
 
 	log.Debug(i18n.G("considering %s config(s) for tag update", strings.Join(composeFiles, ", ")))
 
+	updated := false
 	for _, composeFile := range composeFiles {
 		opts := stack.Deploy{Composefiles: []string{composeFile}}
 
@@ -166,6 +167,10 @@ func (r Recipe) UpdateTag(image, tag string) (bool, error) {
 
 				old := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", composeImage, composeTag)
 				new := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", composeImage, tag)
+				if old == new {
+					continue
+				}
+
 				replacedBytes := strings.Replace(string(bytes), old, new, -1)
 
 				log.Debug(i18n.G("updating %s to %s in %s", old, new, compose.Filename))
@@ -173,11 +178,72 @@ func (r Recipe) UpdateTag(image, tag string) (bool, error) {
 				if err := os.WriteFile(compose.Filename, []byte(replacedBytes), 0o764); err != nil {
 					return false, err
 				}
+				updated = true
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	return false, nil
+	return updated, nil
+}
+
+// UpdatePinnedTag updates an image reference to a pinned version (image:tag@sha256:...) in-place on local compose files.
+func (r Recipe) UpdatePinnedTag(image, tag, digest string) (bool, error) {
+	glob := fmt.Sprintf("%s/compose**yml", r.Dir)
+	image = formatter.StripTagMeta(image)
+
+	composeFiles, err := filepath.Glob(glob)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	updated := false
+	for _, composeFile := range composeFiles {
+		opts := stack.Deploy{Composefiles: []string{composeFile}}
+
+		sampleEnv, err := r.SampleEnv()
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+
+		compose, err := loader.LoadComposefile(opts, sampleEnv)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+
+		for _, service := range compose.Services {
+			if service.Image == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			img, _ := reference.ParseNormalizedNamed(formatter.StripDigest(service.Image))
+			composeImage := formatter.StripTagMeta(reference.Path(img))
+
+			if image == composeImage {
+				bytes, err := ioutil.ReadFile(composeFile)
+				if err != nil {
+					return false, err
+				}
+
+				old := service.Image
+				new := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s@%s", composeImage, tag, digest)
+
+				if old == new {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				replacedBytes := strings.Replace(string(bytes), old, new, -1)
+
+				log.Debug(i18n.G("updating pinned reference %s to %s in %s", old, new, compose.Filename))
+
+				if err := os.WriteFile(compose.Filename, []byte(replacedBytes), 0o764); err != nil {
+					return false, err
+				}
+				updated = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return updated, nil
 }
 
 // UpdateLabel updates a label in-place on file system local compose files.