diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/__mocks__/CloudWatchDataSource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/__mocks__/CloudWatchDataSource.ts
index f846d4e254c..7cc2ab389e1 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/__mocks__/CloudWatchDataSource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/__mocks__/CloudWatchDataSource.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export function setupMockedDataSource({ data = [], variables }: { data?: any; va
   const fetchMock = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(of({ data }));
   setBackendSrv({ fetch: fetchMock } as any);
 
-  return { datasource, fetchMock };
+  return { datasource, fetchMock, templateService };
 }
 
 export const metricVariable: CustomVariableModel = {
@@ -125,3 +125,19 @@ export const aggregationvariable: CustomVariableModel = {
   ],
   multi: false,
 };
+
+export const dimensionVariable: CustomVariableModel = {
+  ...initialCustomVariableModelState,
+  id: 'dimension',
+  name: 'dimension',
+  current: {
+    value: 'env',
+    text: 'env',
+    selected: true,
+  },
+  options: [
+    { value: 'env', text: 'env', selected: false },
+    { value: 'tag', text: 'tag', selected: false },
+  ],
+  multi: false,
+};
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
index 6d7cdebe903..379ea6e4d45 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ export class CloudWatchDatasource
     this.logsTimeout = instanceSettings.jsonData.logsTimeout || '15m';
     this.sqlCompletionItemProvider = new SQLCompletionItemProvider(this, this.templateSrv);
     this.metricMathCompletionItemProvider = new MetricMathCompletionItemProvider(this, this.templateSrv);
-    this.variables = new CloudWatchVariableSupport(this);
+    this.variables = new CloudWatchVariableSupport(this, this.templateSrv);
   }
 
   query(options: DataQueryRequest<CloudWatchQuery>): Observable<DataQueryResponse> {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.test.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e4d2bd4dc0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+import { dimensionVariable, labelsVariable, setupMockedDataSource } from './__mocks__/CloudWatchDataSource';
+import { VariableQuery, VariableQueryType } from './types';
+import { CloudWatchVariableSupport } from './variables';
+
+const defaultQuery: VariableQuery = {
+  queryType: VariableQueryType.Regions,
+  namespace: 'foo',
+  region: 'bar',
+  metricName: '',
+  dimensionKey: '',
+  dimensionFilters: '',
+  ec2Filters: '',
+  instanceID: '',
+  attributeName: '',
+  resourceType: '',
+  tags: '',
+  refId: '',
+};
+
+const ds = setupMockedDataSource({ variables: [labelsVariable, dimensionVariable] });
+ds.datasource.getRegions = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'a', value: 'a' }]);
+ds.datasource.getNamespaces = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'b', value: 'b' }]);
+ds.datasource.getMetrics = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'c', value: 'c' }]);
+ds.datasource.getDimensionKeys = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'd', value: 'd' }]);
+const getDimensionValues = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'e', value: 'e' }]);
+const getEbsVolumeIds = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'f', value: 'f' }]);
+const getEc2InstanceAttribute = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'g', value: 'g' }]);
+const getResourceARNs = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([{ label: 'h', value: 'h' }]);
+
+const variables = new CloudWatchVariableSupport(ds.datasource, ds.templateService);
+
+describe('variables', () => {
+  it('should run regions', async () => {
+    const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery });
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'a', value: 'a', expandable: true }]);
+  });
+
+  it('should run namespaces', async () => {
+    const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery, queryType: VariableQueryType.Namespaces });
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'b', value: 'b', expandable: true }]);
+  });
+
+  it('should run metrics', async () => {
+    const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery, queryType: VariableQueryType.Metrics });
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'c', value: 'c', expandable: true }]);
+  });
+
+  it('should run dimension keys', async () => {
+    const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery, queryType: VariableQueryType.DimensionKeys });
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'd', value: 'd', expandable: true }]);
+  });
+
+  describe('dimension values', () => {
+    const query = {
+      ...defaultQuery,
+      queryType: VariableQueryType.DimensionValues,
+      metricName: 'abc',
+      dimensionKey: 'efg',
+      dimensionFilters: '{"a":"b"}',
+    };
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      ds.datasource.getDimensionValues = getDimensionValues;
+      getDimensionValues.mockClear();
+    });
+
+    it('should not run if dimension key not set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({ ...query, dimensionKey: '' });
+      expect(getDimensionValues).not.toBeCalled();
+      expect(result).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('should not run if metric name not set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({ ...query, metricName: '' });
+      expect(getDimensionValues).not.toBeCalled();
+      expect(result).toEqual([]);
+    });
+    it('should run if values are set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute(query);
+      expect(getDimensionValues).toBeCalledWith(query.region, query.namespace, query.metricName, query.dimensionKey, {
+        a: 'b',
+      });
+      expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'e', value: 'e', expandable: true }]);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('EBS volume ids', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      ds.datasource.getEbsVolumeIds = getEbsVolumeIds;
+      getEbsVolumeIds.mockClear();
+    });
+
+    it('should not run if instance id not set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery, queryType: VariableQueryType.EBSVolumeIDs });
+      expect(getEbsVolumeIds).not.toBeCalled();
+      expect(result).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('should run if instance id set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({
+        ...defaultQuery,
+        queryType: VariableQueryType.EBSVolumeIDs,
+        instanceID: 'foo',
+      });
+      expect(getEbsVolumeIds).toBeCalledWith(defaultQuery.region, 'foo');
+      expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'f', value: 'f', expandable: true }]);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('EC2 instance attributes', () => {
+    const query = {
+      ...defaultQuery,
+      queryType: VariableQueryType.EC2InstanceAttributes,
+      attributeName: 'abc',
+      ec2Filters: '{"$dimension":["b"]}',
+    };
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      ds.datasource.getEc2InstanceAttribute = getEc2InstanceAttribute;
+      getEc2InstanceAttribute.mockClear();
+    });
+
+    it('should not run if instance id not set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({ ...query, attributeName: '' });
+      expect(getEc2InstanceAttribute).not.toBeCalled();
+      expect(result).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('should run if instance id set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute(query);
+      expect(getEc2InstanceAttribute).toBeCalledWith(query.region, query.attributeName, { env: ['b'] });
+      expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'g', value: 'g', expandable: true }]);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('resource arns', () => {
+    const query = {
+      ...defaultQuery,
+      queryType: VariableQueryType.ResourceArns,
+      resourceType: 'abc',
+      tags: '{"a":${labels:json}}',
+    };
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      ds.datasource.getResourceARNs = getResourceARNs;
+      getResourceARNs.mockClear();
+    });
+
+    it('should not run if instance id not set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute({ ...query, resourceType: '' });
+      expect(getResourceARNs).not.toBeCalled();
+      expect(result).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it('should run if instance id set', async () => {
+      const result = await variables.execute(query);
+      expect(getResourceARNs).toBeCalledWith(query.region, query.resourceType, { a: ['InstanceId', 'InstanceType'] });
+      expect(result).toEqual([{ text: 'h', value: 'h', expandable: true }]);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should run statistics', async () => {
+    const result = await variables.execute({ ...defaultQuery, queryType: VariableQueryType.Statistics });
+    expect(result).toEqual([
+      { text: 'Average', value: 'Average', expandable: true },
+      { text: 'Maximum', value: 'Maximum', expandable: true },
+      { text: 'Minimum', value: 'Minimum', expandable: true },
+      { text: 'Sum', value: 'Sum', expandable: true },
+      { text: 'SampleCount', value: 'SampleCount', expandable: true },
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.ts
index 836c2db3876..f251e15a2fd 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/variables.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { from, Observable } from 'rxjs';
 import { map } from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 import { CustomVariableSupport, DataQueryRequest, DataQueryResponse } from '@grafana/data';
+import { getTemplateSrv, TemplateSrv } from '@grafana/runtime';
 
 import { VariableQueryEditor } from './components/VariableQueryEditor/VariableQueryEditor';
 import { CloudWatchDatasource } from './datasource';
@@ -10,10 +11,12 @@ import { VariableQuery, VariableQueryType } from './types';
 
 export class CloudWatchVariableSupport extends CustomVariableSupport<CloudWatchDatasource, VariableQuery> {
   private readonly datasource: CloudWatchDatasource;
+  private readonly templateSrv: TemplateSrv;
 
-  constructor(datasource: CloudWatchDatasource) {
+  constructor(datasource: CloudWatchDatasource, templateSrv: TemplateSrv = getTemplateSrv()) {
     super();
     this.datasource = datasource;
+    this.templateSrv = templateSrv;
     this.query = this.query.bind(this);
   }
 
@@ -122,7 +125,7 @@ export class CloudWatchVariableSupport extends CustomVariableSupport<CloudWatchD
     }
     var filterJson = {};
     if (ec2Filters) {
-      filterJson = JSON.parse(ec2Filters);
+      filterJson = JSON.parse(this.templateSrv.replace(ec2Filters));
     }
     const values = await this.datasource.getEc2InstanceAttribute(region, attributeName, filterJson);
     return values.map((s: { label: string; value: string }) => ({
@@ -138,7 +141,7 @@ export class CloudWatchVariableSupport extends CustomVariableSupport<CloudWatchD
     }
     var tagJson = {};
     if (tags) {
-      tagJson = JSON.parse(tags);
+      tagJson = JSON.parse(this.templateSrv.replace(tags));
     }
     const keys = await this.datasource.getResourceARNs(region, resourceType, tagJson);
     return keys.map((s: { label: string; value: string }) => ({