The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word RIB-EYE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
R
I
B
-
E
Y
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "source of meat" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case source of meat = rib-eye.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does RIB-EYE mean?
RIB-EYE noun- A beef steak cut from the rib section of the cow; with the bone removed.
- A beefsteak cut from the primal rib area of a bovine, with the rib bone attached to the steak cut. A bone-in rib steak.
- A similar cut from another animal.
- (by extension) A bone-in or boneless cut of steak, either the rib or ribeye steak.