diff --git a/packages/eui/changelogs/upcoming/7960.md b/packages/eui/changelogs/upcoming/7960.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..463382867f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/eui/changelogs/upcoming/7960.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Updated `EuiSearchBar`'s optional `box.schema` prop with a new `recognizedFields` configuration. This allows specifying the phrases that will be parsed as field clauses
diff --git a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.test.ts b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.test.ts
index 1303b93a6e2..9dfa22a7220 100644
--- a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.test.ts
@@ -1240,4 +1240,76 @@ describe('defaultSyntax', () => {
     const printedQuery = defaultSyntax.print(ast);
     expect(printedQuery).toBe(query);
   });
+
+  describe('recognizedFields', () => {
+    test('parse field clauses from a query only for recognized fields', () => {
+      const query = 'remote:test type:dataview happiness';
+      const ast = defaultSyntax.parse(query, {
+        schema: {
+          recognizedFields: ['tag', 'type'],
+        },
+      });
+      expect(ast).toBeDefined();
+      expect(ast.clauses).toHaveLength(3);
+      expect(ast.getFieldClauses()).toMatchObject([
+        { field: 'type', match: 'must', value: 'dataview' },
+      ]);
+      expect(ast.getTermClauses()).toEqual([
+        { match: 'must', type: 'term', value: 'remote:test' },
+        { match: 'must', type: 'term', value: 'happiness' },
+      ]);
+
+      const printedQuery = defaultSyntax.print(ast);
+      expect(printedQuery).toBe('remote\\:test type:dataview happiness');
+    });
+
+    test('combined with "is" clause', () => {
+      const query = 'remote:test is:pending';
+      const ast = defaultSyntax.parse(query, {
+        schema: {
+          recognizedFields: ['tag', 'type'],
+        },
+      });
+      expect(ast).toBeDefined();
+      expect(ast.clauses).toHaveLength(2);
+      expect(ast.getFieldClauses()).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect(ast.getIsClauses()).toEqual([
+        { flag: 'pending', match: 'must', type: 'is' },
+      ]);
+      expect(ast.getTermClauses()).toEqual([
+        { match: 'must', type: 'term', value: 'remote:test' },
+      ]);
+
+      const printedQuery = defaultSyntax.print(ast);
+      expect(printedQuery).toBe('remote\\:test is:pending');
+    });
+
+    test('parse complex terms from a query', () => {
+      const query =
+        'my-remote-cluster:my-remote-index type:data-view tag:really-nice-content';
+      const ast = defaultSyntax.parse(query, {
+        schema: {
+          recognizedFields: ['tag', 'type'],
+        },
+      });
+      expect(ast).toBeDefined();
+      expect(ast.clauses).toHaveLength(3);
+      expect(ast.getFieldClauses()).toMatchObject([
+        { field: 'type', match: 'must', value: 'data-view' },
+        { field: 'tag', match: 'must', value: 'really-nice-content' },
+      ]);
+      expect(ast.getTermClauses()).toEqual([
+        {
+          match: 'must',
+          type: 'term',
+          value: 'my-remote-cluster:my-remote-index',
+        },
+      ]);
+
+      const printedQuery = defaultSyntax.print(ast);
+      expect(printedQuery).toBe(
+        'my\\-remote\\-cluster\\:my\\-remote\\-index type:data-view tag:really-nice-content'
+      );
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.ts b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.ts
index fb1abda17fb..25303b16edd 100644
--- a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.ts
+++ b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/query/default_syntax.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ import peg from 'pegjs-inline-precompile'; // eslint-disable-line import/no-unre
 
 const parser = peg`
 {
-  const { AST, Exp, unescapeValue, unescapePhraseValue, resolveFieldValue } = options;
+  const { AST, Exp, unescapeValue, unescapePhraseValue, resolveFieldValue, recognizedFields } = options;
+  const hasRecognizedFields = recognizedFields && recognizedFields.length > 0;
   const ctx = Object.assign({ error }, options );
 }
 
@@ -108,8 +109,9 @@ FieldLTEValue
 flagName "flag name"
   = identifier
 
+// If recognizedFields was given in options, the identifier must match an allowed field
 fieldName "field name"
-  = identifier
+  = id:identifier &{ return !hasRecognizedFields || recognizedFields.includes(id); } { return id; }
 
 identifier
   = identifierChar+ { return unescapeValue(text()); }
@@ -256,7 +258,11 @@ interface ValueExpression {
 
 export interface ParseOptions {
   dateFormat?: any;
-  schema?: any;
+  schema?: {
+    strict?: boolean;
+    fields?: string[] | Record<string, any>;
+    recognizedFields?: string[];
+  };
   escapeValue?: (value: any) => string;
 }
 
@@ -492,7 +498,7 @@ export const defaultSyntax: Syntax = Object.freeze({
   parse: (query: string, options: ParseOptions = {}) => {
     const dateFormat = options.dateFormat || defaultDateFormat;
     const parseDate = dateValueParser(dateFormat);
-    const schema = options.schema || {};
+    const { recognizedFields, ...schema } = options.schema || {};
     const clauses = parser.parse(query, {
       AST,
       Exp,
@@ -502,6 +508,7 @@ export const defaultSyntax: Syntax = Object.freeze({
       resolveFieldValue,
       validateFlag,
       schema: { strict: false, flags: [], fields: {}, ...schema },
+      recognizedFields,
     });
     return AST.create(clauses);
   },
diff --git a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/search_bar.tsx b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/search_bar.tsx
index 046e8eaeb0b..82703a7d739 100644
--- a/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/search_bar.tsx
+++ b/packages/eui/src/components/search_bar/search_bar.tsx
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ export interface SchemaType {
   strict?: boolean;
   fields?: any;
   flags?: string[];
+  // Controls which phrases will be parsed as field clauses
+  recognizedFields?: string[];
 }
 
 export type EuiSearchBarOnChangeArgs = ArgsWithQuery | ArgsWithError;
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ const parseQuery = (
   props: EuiSearchBarProps
 ): Query => {
   let schema: SchemaType | undefined = undefined;
-  if (props.box && props.box.schema && typeof props.box.schema === 'object') {
+  if (props.box?.schema && typeof props.box?.schema === 'object') {
     schema = props.box.schema;
   }
   const dateFormat = props.dateFormat;