Hydroxycinnamic acid esters (HCEs) are widely-distributed phenylpropanoid-derived plant natural products. Rosmarinic acid (RA 7), the most well-known HCE, shows promise as a treatment for cancer and neurological disorders. In contrast to extraction from plant material or plant cell culture, a microbial production platform for HCEs could provide a sustainable, controlled means of production. Through the overexpression of a six-enzyme chimeric bacterial and plant pathway, we show the de novo biosynthesis of RA 7 and the related HCE isorinic acid (IA 8) in E. coli. Probing the pathway through precursor supplementation showed several potential pathway bottlenecks. We show HCE biosynthesis using three plant RAS orthologs exhibiting different levels of HCE biosynthesis, but the same ratio of IA 8 to RA 7 produced. This work serves as a proof of concept for a microbial production platform for HCEs using a modular biosynthetic approach to access diverse natural and non-natural HCEs.