diff --git a/docs/examples/testing/subprocess_sse_app.py b/docs/examples/testing/subprocess_sse_app.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0e922a1f93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/examples/testing/subprocess_sse_app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""
+Assemble components into an app that shall be tested
+"""
+
+from typing import AsyncIterator
+
+from redis.asyncio import Redis
+
+from litestar import Litestar, get
+from litestar.channels import ChannelsPlugin
+from litestar.channels.backends.redis import RedisChannelsPubSubBackend
+from litestar.response import ServerSentEvent
+
+
+@get("/notify/{topic:str}")
+async def get_notified(topic: str, channels: ChannelsPlugin) -> ServerSentEvent:
+    async def generator() -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
+        async with channels.start_subscription([topic]) as subscriber:
+            async for event in subscriber.iter_events():
+                yield event
+
+    return ServerSentEvent(generator(), event_type="Notifier")
+
+
+def create_test_app() -> Litestar:
+    redis_instance = Redis()
+    channels_backend = RedisChannelsPubSubBackend(redis=redis_instance)
+    channels_instance = ChannelsPlugin(backend=channels_backend, arbitrary_channels_allowed=True)
+
+    return Litestar(
+        route_handlers=[
+            get_notified,
+        ],
+        plugins=[channels_instance],
+    )
+
+
+app = create_test_app()
diff --git a/docs/examples/testing/test_subprocess_sse.py b/docs/examples/testing/test_subprocess_sse.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..900b6b9896
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/examples/testing/test_subprocess_sse.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+"""
+Test the app running in a subprocess
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import pathlib
+import sys
+from typing import AsyncIterator
+
+import httpx
+import httpx_sse
+import pytest
+from redis.asyncio import Redis
+
+from litestar.channels import ChannelsPlugin
+from litestar.channels.backends.redis import RedisChannelsPubSubBackend
+from litestar.testing import subprocess_async_client
+
+if sys.platform == "win32":
+    asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(asyncio.WindowsSelectorEventLoopPolicy())
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.anyio
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def anyio_backend() -> str:
+    return "asyncio"
+
+
+ROOT = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(name="async_client", scope="session")
+async def fx_async_client() -> AsyncIterator[httpx.AsyncClient]:
+    async with subprocess_async_client(workdir=ROOT, app="subprocess_sse_app:app") as client:
+        yield client
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(name="redis_channels")
+async def fx_redis_channels() -> AsyncIterator[ChannelsPlugin]:
+    # Expects separate redis set-up
+    redis_instance = Redis()
+    channels_backend = RedisChannelsPubSubBackend(redis=redis_instance)
+    channels_instance = ChannelsPlugin(backend=channels_backend, arbitrary_channels_allowed=True)
+    await channels_instance._on_startup()
+    yield channels_instance
+    await channels_instance._on_shutdown()
+
+
+async def test_subprocess_async_client(async_client: httpx.AsyncClient, redis_channels: ChannelsPlugin) -> None:
+    """Demonstrates functionality of the async client with an infinite SSE source that cannot be tested with the
+    regular async test client.
+    """
+    topic = "demo"
+    message = "hello"
+
+    running = asyncio.Event()
+    running.set()
+
+    async def send_notifications() -> None:
+        while running.is_set():
+            await redis_channels.wait_published(message, channels=[topic])
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+
+    task = asyncio.create_task(send_notifications())
+
+    async with httpx_sse.aconnect_sse(async_client, "GET", f"/notify/{topic}") as event_source:
+        async for event in event_source.aiter_sse():
+            assert event.data == message
+            running.clear()
+            break
+    await task
diff --git a/docs/reference/testing.rst b/docs/reference/testing.rst
index 85767df5bf..ebc9bc1044 100644
--- a/docs/reference/testing.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/testing.rst
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ testing
 
 
 .. automodule:: litestar.testing
-    :members: RequestFactory, BaseTestClient, TestClient, AsyncTestClient, create_async_test_client, create_test_client
+    :members: RequestFactory, BaseTestClient, TestClient, AsyncTestClient, create_async_test_client, create_test_client, subprocess_sync_client, subprocess_async_client
     :undoc-members: WebSocketTestSession
 
 
diff --git a/docs/usage/testing.rst b/docs/usage/testing.rst
index e2a78651f5..d50a4c473e 100644
--- a/docs/usage/testing.rst
+++ b/docs/usage/testing.rst
@@ -287,6 +287,31 @@ But also this:
             assert response.text == "healthy"
 
 
+Running a live server
+---------------------
+
+The test clients make use of HTTPX's ability to directly call into an ASGI app, without
+having to run an actual server. In most cases this is sufficient but there are some
+exceptions where this won't work, due to the limitations of the emulated client-server
+communication.
+
+For example, when using server-sent events with an infinite generator, it will lock up
+the test client, since HTTPX tries to consume the full response before returning a
+request.
+
+Litestar offers two helper functions,
+:func:`~litestar.testing.client.subprocess_client.subprocess_sync_client` and
+:func:`~litestar.testing.client.subprocess_client.subprocess_async_client` that will
+launch a Litestar instance with in a subprocess and set up an httpx client for running
+tests. You can either load your actual app file or create subsets from it as you would
+with the regular test client setup:
+
+.. literalinclude:: /examples/testing/subprocess_sse_app.py
+    :language: python
+
+.. literalinclude:: /examples/testing/test_subprocess_sse.py
+    :language: python
+
 RequestFactory
 --------------
 
diff --git a/litestar/testing/__init__.py b/litestar/testing/__init__.py
index d09fb90aa7..b3f586b755 100644
--- a/litestar/testing/__init__.py
+++ b/litestar/testing/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from litestar.testing.client.async_client import AsyncTestClient
 from litestar.testing.client.base import BaseTestClient
+from litestar.testing.client.subprocess_client import subprocess_async_client, subprocess_sync_client
 from litestar.testing.client.sync_client import TestClient
 from litestar.testing.helpers import create_async_test_client, create_test_client
 from litestar.testing.request_factory import RequestFactory
@@ -13,4 +14,6 @@
     "WebSocketTestSession",
     "create_async_test_client",
     "create_test_client",
+    "subprocess_sync_client",
+    "subprocess_async_client",
 )
diff --git a/litestar/testing/client/subprocess_client.py b/litestar/testing/client/subprocess_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7f91c8f338
--- /dev/null
+++ b/litestar/testing/client/subprocess_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import pathlib
+import socket
+import subprocess
+import time
+from contextlib import asynccontextmanager, contextmanager
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Iterator
+
+import httpx
+
+
+class StartupError(RuntimeError):
+    pass
+
+
+def _get_available_port() -> int:
+    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as sock:
+        # Bind to a free port provided by the host
+        try:
+            sock.bind(("localhost", 0))
+        except OSError as e:
+            raise StartupError("Could not find an open port") from e
+        else:
+            port: int = sock.getsockname()[1]
+            return port
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def run_app(workdir: pathlib.Path, app: str) -> Iterator[str]:
+    """Launch a litestar application in a subprocess with a random available port."""
+    port = _get_available_port()
+    with subprocess.Popen(
+        args=["litestar", "--app", app, "run", "--port", str(port)],
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        cwd=workdir,
+    ) as proc:
+        url = f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}"
+        for _ in range(100):
+            try:
+                httpx.get(url, timeout=0.1)
+                break
+            except httpx.TransportError:
+                time.sleep(1)
+        yield url
+        proc.kill()
+
+
+@asynccontextmanager
+async def subprocess_async_client(workdir: pathlib.Path, app: str) -> AsyncIterator[httpx.AsyncClient]:
+    """Provides an async httpx client for a litestar app launched in a subprocess.
+
+    Args:
+        workdir: Path to the directory in which the app module resides.
+        app: Uvicorn app string that can be resolved in the provided working directory, e.g.: "app:app"
+    """
+    with run_app(workdir=workdir, app=app) as url:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(base_url=url) as client:
+            yield client
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def subprocess_sync_client(workdir: pathlib.Path, app: str) -> Iterator[httpx.Client]:
+    """Provides a sync httpx client for a litestar app launched in a subprocess.
+
+    Args:
+        workdir: Path to the directory in which the app module resides.
+        app: Uvicorn app string that can be resolved in the provided working directory, e.g.: "app:app"
+    """
+    with run_app(workdir=workdir, app=app) as url, httpx.Client(base_url=url) as client:
+        yield client
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/__init__.py b/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/demo.py b/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/demo.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dce3de56cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/demo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""
+Assemble components into an app that shall be tested
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+from typing import AsyncIterator
+
+from litestar import Litestar, get
+from litestar.response import ServerSentEvent
+
+
+@get("/notify/{topic:str}")
+async def get_notified(topic: str) -> ServerSentEvent:
+    async def generator() -> AsyncIterator[str]:
+        yield topic
+        while True:
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+
+    return ServerSentEvent(generator(), event_type="Notifier")
+
+
+def create_test_app() -> Litestar:
+    return Litestar(
+        route_handlers=[get_notified],
+    )
+
+
+app = create_test_app()
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/test_subprocess_client.py b/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/test_subprocess_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4096ee1a61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_testing/test_sub_client/test_subprocess_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""
+Test the app running in a subprocess
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import pathlib
+import sys
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Iterator
+
+import httpx
+import httpx_sse
+import pytest
+
+from litestar.testing import subprocess_async_client, subprocess_sync_client
+
+if sys.platform == "win32":
+    asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(asyncio.WindowsSelectorEventLoopPolicy())
+
+
+ROOT = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(name="async_client", scope="session")
+async def fx_async_client() -> AsyncIterator[httpx.AsyncClient]:
+    async with subprocess_async_client(workdir=ROOT, app="demo:app") as client:
+        yield client
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(name="sync_client", scope="session")
+def fx_sync_client() -> Iterator[httpx.Client]:
+    with subprocess_sync_client(workdir=ROOT, app="demo:app") as client:
+        yield client
+
+
+async def test_subprocess_async_client(async_client: httpx.AsyncClient) -> None:
+    """Demonstrates functionality of the async client with an infinite SSE source that cannot be tested with the
+    regular async test client.
+    """
+
+    async with httpx_sse.aconnect_sse(async_client, "GET", "/notify/hello") as event_source:
+        async for event in event_source.aiter_sse():
+            assert event.data == "hello"
+            break
+
+
+def test_subprocess_sync_client(sync_client: httpx.Client) -> None:
+    """Demonstrates functionality of the async client with an infinite SSE source that cannot be tested with the
+    regular async test client.
+    """
+
+    with httpx_sse.connect_sse(sync_client, "GET", "/notify/hello") as event_source:
+        for event in event_source.iter_sse():
+            assert event.data == "hello"
+            break